


It's a Sign

by bryzknowstheuniverse



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Deaf Character, M/M, Philadelphia Flyers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-27
Updated: 2013-07-29
Packaged: 2017-12-21 13:07:31
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 37,821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/900660
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bryzknowstheuniverse/pseuds/bryzknowstheuniverse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sean always thought that his life would go according to plan, but the lockout smashed that idea to pieces. Sean found himself in a downward spiral that he couldn't seem to escape. It turned out that all he needed was a trip back to kindergarten.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is set during the shortened 2013 season. I have been working on this since April and have finally gotten around to editing it and now posting it.
> 
> ASL (American Sign Language) is its own complex language, with a very specific set up for grammar. That being said, for the purpose of this work I had to ignore that to a certain extent. Here is how it breaks down...
> 
> Spoken English: Plain Text in Quotes  
> Spoken English and ASL: Italics in Quotes  
> ASL: Italics without Quotes
> 
> Special thanks to Evelyn (chelseachelseaIbelieve), for listening to my crazy ramblings about ideas and writer's block for three months, and for editing this major beast!

Claude Giroux opened the door to his teammate’s bedroom and took in the state of the room with a look of disgust on his face. His eyes moved from the many beer bottles that littered almost all of the surfaces in the room to the large amount of dirty clothing that covered the floor and then back to the take out containers that were stacked in various places. It was a cluster fuck, and that was putting it lightly. When he had been unceremoniously woken up by a panicking Brayden Schenn calling him that morning, he honestly thought that it was a big joke, another way for the boys to prank their new captain. Claude spotted the reason he was there in the first place. Sean Couturier laid passed out on the bed. His long ginger hair was flung in every direction. 

“Okay, I’ll just do this quickly. It will be like a Band Aid. Quick and easy,” he muttered to himself before crossing the room until he was at the end of the bed. Without further deliberation Claude yanked all of the covers off of the bed. “COOTS! Get your ass up! Let’s go!” Sean startled awake, he looked up blearily at Claude.

“Why the fuck are you in my room? Fuck off!” Sean whined before rolling back onto his stomach and attempting to cover his head with his pillow.

“Oh no you don’t, I said get your ass up.” Claude said calmly, mentally beginning a count down from three like he had seen Danny do with the Mini-Brieres on many occasions. Sean made no indication that he was actually planning on following this order. Claude had tried being reasonable and that didn’t work so he might as well do it the way that he preferred. If Sean wasn’t going to get up willingly, Claude was going to force him to get up. Clearly he needed some assistance on that front. He made his way out of the room and towards the kitchen where he found Brayden and Luke Schenn sitting at the island eating impressive stacks of pancakes.

“Did you manage to get him up?” Luke asked before taking another bite. Brayden on the other hand was noticeably quiet. It was no secret that Sean and Brayden were close, after competing with each other for Team Canada in the 2011 World Juniors and then ending up on the Flyers together, it seemed only natural that the two would cling to the familiarity of each other. When Claude and Danny suggested the previous season that they get an apartment together it seemed completely logical, but that was eight and a half months ago. That was before the lockout and playing in the “A”. That was before everything went to shit. 

“Not yet, but I will.” Claude said as he began opening cabinets. After finding what normal people would probably consider a lifetime supply of Gatorade, he finally found something that would suffice. He pulled out a large bowl and proceeded to move to the sink and fill it with water.

“What the hell are you planning on doing with that?” Brayden questioned, finally breaking his silence. Claude just waved his hand and continued the task at hand. Brayden sighed, “Just make sure you don’t ruin the walls or the carpet.” With that Claude nodded then turned off the faucet and carried the bowl of water out of the room. He carefully walked down the hallway back towards Sean’s room. Sean was in the exact same position that he was left in. Claude quickly dumped the water on Sean before backing away to avoid the now flailing and pissed off younger man. Sean jumped off the bed completely soaked.

“Before you start yelling, this is for your own damn good, and I gave you the chance to get up on your own.” Claude stood with his hands out in front of him as a kind of surrender. To his surprise, Sean didn’t look angry anymore, he looked miserable. “Sean, you know that we are all doing what we are doing because we care about you right? I know that you are hurting, I know that it sucks and you feel like it is the end of the world, but it’s not. It’s going to be...”

“What? Okay? It’s not going to be o-fucking-kay! You have no fucking idea what I am feeling right now.” Sean’s attitude had changed from miserable back to angry in a flash. “I had everything planned out, G. Everything. I had the ring picked out and I knew exactly what our lives were going to be like together. God, I was so stupid. All I could think about was what I wanted and what I had planned, I never thought that she would cheat on me.” Sean sat on the edge of his bed and placed his head in his hands.

“Hey, it’s not your fault that Laurence did that.” Claude replied sitting down next to Sean, attempting to avoid sitting in a damp spot. “You have to know that. You couldn’t stop the lockout, and at least with the Phantoms you got to play. Was it stressful? Sure, but that doesn’t mean that it was okay that she went running to someone else. And it doesn’t help that she hooked up with James Neal and he is a massive douche canoe.” That got a small laugh and a smirk out of Sean. Claude lifted himself off the bed “Alright, enough of this feelings crap. Go get in the shower and get ready to go.”

“Where exactly are we going?” Sean asked, standing and moving towards his closet to pull out some clothes to change into after his shower.

“We, as in you, me, Little Schenn, and Reader, are going to some school to visit kids today, so you should shave that hobo beard, that you are clearly not rocking so that you don’t scare the kids.” Claude narrowly dodged the shoe that came flying toward his head. “Alright, alright, I’m going to leave you to shower. You are capable of doing that on your own right? Because that is so not my responsibility as captain.” This time he expected the projectile object hurled his way, “fifteen minutes Coots! And don’t forget your teeth either!” Sean laughed and shook his head slightly as he made his way toward the bathroom to get ready.

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Sean stepped out of the bathroom after his shower and made his way toward the living room where he could hear his team mates. He felt a little bit better after his talk with Claude, but he also thought that it was incredibly acceptable for him to mope around a little bit longer about the shit fest that his life had become. He was greeted by the laughs and smiles of four of his best friends. 

“See Coots! I told you that the clean shaven look was the way to go. Now if only you would cut off that ridiculous flow of yours!” Claude chirped from his place in the arm chair. Matt, and Luke joined in laughing at their team mate’s expense. Sean smirked and played along with the ribbing. He plopped down on the couch next to Brayden and nudged him with his shoulder sending him a sidelong smile.

“So what do we know about the school?” Sean asked, trying to get some of the attention off of himself. It worked well enough, Brayden spoke up first. 

“We are going to visit the Pennsylvania School for the Deaf,” he explained, “and we are going to be extremely late if we do not go now.” Matt and Claude stopped laughing long enough to actually get out the door and Sean pulled his coat on and followed them out with Brayden.

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Sean let his mind wander once they got down to the car, letting himself drift in and out of the conversation that his team mates were having, earning a few concerned looks from Brayden. He turned to look out the window and watched as the buildings flew by. Sean had never really thought about what it would be like to be deaf. If he was being totally honest with himself, he never really thought about anything besides hockey. He threw himself into the sport with everything he had in him no matter who it ended up hurting in the process. But to not be able to hear? That would change everything. He tried to imagine what it would be like to not hear his team mates talking to him on the ice, to not hear the Doop song playing at the Wells Fargo Center when he scored a goal, or to never be able to hear someone saying “I love you”. Sean was broken out of his thoughts when Matt reached over and tapped him on the shoulder letting him know that they had arrived at the school.

Sean followed the other guys as they entered the school and made their way to the front office. They were met there by the principal of the school. Sean tried his best to stay focused on what the woman was saying, she was basically giving the generic speech about how wonderful it is to welcome them to the school, and how honored the school was that they could come to see their school. Sean caught a glimpse of something rainbow colored and turned toward the windows that showed the entryway to the school. He smiled when he saw a little girl skipping down the hallway, she waved to him when she noticed he was watching and matched his smile before continuing on her way.

Sean snapped back to the conversation when he heard his name being said pointedly. “What?” he chimed in trying to not sound like a complete and total idiot. He winced when he heard himself and realized that he failed at sounding at all intelligible.

“She asked you what grade level you wanted to visit today,” Claude replied, without shooting him the judgmental glare that he knew he deserved.

“Uh, any grade is fine with me I guess. I like the little kids though. They always seem to have fun.” Sean managed to get out and gave himself a mental pat on the back for that one.

“Well all right,” the principal responded, “If you like the younger kids we have an excellent kindergarten teacher who works here with us. So I think I will let you spend the day with Mr. Greyson’s kindergarteners. They are sure to brighten your day. Then Mr. Read, we will send you to the middle level wing with Ms. Kennedy, Mr. Giroux we will send you to fifth grade with Mrs. Stuart, and Mr. Schenn you will be with the second graders and Ms. Abbott. Alright gentlemen lets go.” Matt headed off towards the middle school wing while the other three guys headed to the elementary wing. Sean spotted his assigned classroom and headed over to the door.

As Sean stepped in the room he was at a loss for words. There were bright colors everywhere. The walls were covered in different pieces of artwork that the kids must have drawn and painted. Above the alphabet hanging over the board was another alphabet, this one using hand signs. Sean vaguely remembered the principal mentioning that they use sign language in the school. Then Sean looked around at the kids, there must have been about twenty three in the classroom. Sean smirked at the thought that there were enough kids to have their own hockey team. He felt a slight pull on his sleeve and he looked down and saw the little girl from the hallway smiling up at him. Sean dropped down to his knees so that he was closer to her height and waved at her. She in return started moving her hands rapidly in front of him. Sean froze, he had absolutely no idea how to sign or interpret signs.

“She said that her name is Chloe, and she asked what your name is.” A male voice with a strange accent said behind Sean, he spun around quickly falling backward in the process. Sean had been so preoccupied with looking all around the room and then seeing the little girl...Chloe, that he did not even think to look for the teacher. Giving himself a mental face palm, Sean looked up and was met by a pair of dark brown eyes looking concerned at him. Sean couldn’t resist looking into the other man’s eyes until he cleared his throat, Sean looked down to see that he had been holding a hand out to help him up. Sean blushed and took the hand.

“Uh...uhm...sorry. My name is Sean. I...uhm was told to uh come to this class.” he stuttered out. The other man looked a little confused before he nodded and bent down to be at Chloe’s level.

“His name is Sean. He came to visit our class today. Should we show him around?” the man signed and spoke at the same time. Chloe nodded eagerly and grabbed Sean’s hand before starting to pull him around the room. 

“So you’re Mr. Greyson?” Sean asked the other man as Chloe led them over to the arts center.

“That’s me. You can call me Finn though. I’m only Mr. Greyson to my students.” Sean smiled at that.

“Finn,” he repeated, “It’s very nice to meet you Finn, I’m Sean.” he was met by the soft laugh of the other man, “Right. You already knew that though.” Insert foot in mouth and call it a day.

Finn smiled, “It’s very nice to meet you as well Sean.” The pair moved to catch up with Chloe when they noticed her waiting for them with an impatient look on her face. As Finn knelt down to check on his students, Sean took the time to look the other man over. 

Finn’s dark eyes were framed by thick black Buddy Holly style glasses that complimented him perfectly. He was about five inches shorter than Sean with a slim but muscular build. His sandy blonde hair was cropped short and tousled. He wore navy slim fitting cords, a light blue v-neck sweater with a button up navy and light blue striped shirt under it. A navy bow tie and black oxfords finished off his look. Sean shook his head and wondered when the hell he had started noticing other men’s clothes and shoes. He decided that it would just be much easier to focus on the kids instead of giving in to his new found insanity.

Sean spent the rest of the day playing around with the kids and getting to know them. Finn played the role of interpreter for him. Sean could admit that he was a little bit mesmerized by how Finn’s hands moved so swiftly and elegantly as he formed the different signs, and if this caused Sean to think about what other things that those hands might be really good at, who could really blame him? As Finn interpreted, Sean also remembered what he had been thinking about in the car this morning. Although he had still come to realize how hard it must be to live without being able to hear the world around you, Sean had also realized something else. The kids all looked and seemed so happy, and maybe he was wrong. They weren’t the ones who were missing something, maybe he was.

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Sean helped Finn corral all of the students at the end of the day when it is time for them to go home. He quickly realized just how stressful dismissal must be for teacher, but when he looked over at Finn he appeared calm and collected, that made Sean smile. That had become a pretty common occurrence over the time he spent in the classroom today. 

Sean got hugs from all of the students before they left. Once again, Sean couldn’t seem to stop thinking about how wrong his perceptions of deafness were. When Finn walked back into the room he noticed that Sean had an unrecognizable look on his face. It concerned Finn in a way that it probably shouldn’t have with it being someone that he had only just met. He crossed the room to Sean and waved a hand in front of his face. Sean blinked out of whatever trance he was in with a blush and a sheepish smile. “Are you alright? You kind of look like someone kicked your puppy.” Finn asked. 

Sean had no idea when he became so damn easy to read, but apparently he wasn’t aware of many of his personality traits that popped up today. Sean ducked his head and mumbled, “I’ve just been thinking about how different the kids were than what I expected.” When he looked up, Finn had a look of utter confusion on his face. This time Sean waved his hand in front of Finn’s face.

“I’m sorry. What did you say? I can read your lips when I can see them.” Finn said apologetically. 

“What do you mean ‘read my lips’?” Sean replied making sure that he is now facing Finn so that he has a clear view of his mouth.

“It’s how I can understand what you are saying since you don’t sign and obviously I can’t hear you.” Finn pointed to the set of translucent hearing aids that adorned his ears. Finn is deaf. He spent the entire day with this man and he didn’t even realize. It wasn’t even an issue in his mind.

“I’m so sorry! I’m so stupid. You just kept up with everything I was saying today and I didn’t even think for a minute that you couldn’t hear me. Could I be more of an insensitive jerk?” Sean rambled in practically one breath. Finn laughed at that.

“Talking really really fast also makes it hard to read your lips. But you’re not stupid or an idiot. I didn’t clearly identify myself as being deaf, and it’s kind of nice that you didn’t see me any differently.” Sean had to smile at that. He still felt like a complete fool but at least Finn didn’t seem offended.

“I just. When I walked in here this morning I really had no idea what to expect. I don’t know. I mean I’ve never really thought about what it would be like if I couldn’t hear just because I always have. But seeing the kids and how happy they are makes me fell like an asshole for every thinking that...I had something that they didn’t.” Sean dropped his head when he finished. He felt a hand brush his shoulder and he looked up to see an unreadable expression on Finn’s face.

“Would you like to go grab a cup of coffee with me?” Finn blurted out, wincing at his own words. Sean just smiled and nodded. 

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The two of them wound up in some strange hipster coffee house that a friend of a friend recommended to Finn at some point in time. Sean was sitting in a booth that the barista, who had corrected Sean twenty five times about his title as barista and the correct names for the different sizes of drinks, swore were all reclaimed wood because that’s the main selling point to a hipster coffee place apparently. Sean and Finn had a nice laugh over that, and now he was trying to decide how to start the conversation. Luckily for Sean, Finn seemed to take the hint that Sean wasn’t talking first.

“So you mentioned that you had a big realization when you saw the kids today. Do you want to start talking about that?” 

“Why don’t you sign when you talk to me?” Sean asked bluntly, completely ignoring Finn’s question. 

“I...well...I guess I just figured that you didn’t need the signs. Some hearing people are really freaked out when I start signing and that is kind of the last thing that I want you to be.” Finn dipped his head a little self-consciously. Sean tapped the table in front of him to get Finn’s attention.

“I actually really like it when you sign. I like the way that you seem so comfortable with the language. I don’t want you to be uncomfortable or stop doing it because you think I want you to.” Sean said with a hopefully endearing look on his face.

“Okay. So now lets play a game of twenty questions.” Finn was now smirking, Sean should probably have been a little frightened right now, but he couldn’t stop the smile that spread across his face. Damn face for betraying him yet again when it came to Finn.

“Do I go first?” Sean asked, getting nod in return. “Okay...where did you grow up?” He asked playing it safe with the first question.

“I was born and raised in Chicago. Go Blackhawks!” Sean grimaced, drawing a laugh out of Finn before he finished. “It was kind of a big shock for my family when I decided to move to Philadelphia. My turn, what would you be doing if you couldn’t play hockey?” 

“Honestly, I have no idea. Hockey has always been my life. My dad played when I was a kid and I wanted to be just like him. I don’t think that I could ever really do anything else, it’s all I’m good at. So, why did you want to become a teacher?”

“First, I am sure that you are good at many things Sean. You should never doubt yourself. As for why I chose teaching, it is complicated. When I was a kid, my grandparents insisted that I be enrolled in this prep school that everyone in my family went to. The problem was that it was a mainstream school filled with many closed minded people. I had an interpreter, but that only made me stand out more. It was horrible. I had this one teacher though, Mrs. Lane. She learned sign language so that she could communicate with me. She would sign as she taught the rest of the class. I will never forget how amazing it felt to just be able to be me. I want to make sure that I have that impact on my students. What are you most afraid of?”

“Mrs. Lane sounds like an amazing teacher, I’m sure she would be proud to see how you’ve turned out now. How you help your students. It’s incredible. Let’s see, I could take the easy way out and say clowns because they are creepy as hell, but you gave me an honest and real answer so, I’m scared that I’m not going to play as well as I did last year. I’m scared of letting all the fans, and my team mates, and my family down. They’ve all put so much faith in me, and I really don’t deserve them. You don’t have to answer this question if you don’t want to but, how come you can talk when Chloe can’t?”

Finn took a deep breath this time before starting. “You are doubting yourself again. For someone as amazing and talented as you are, you would think that you might have a little bit more ego. You just have to play the best game that you can, and leave it all out on the ice. As for me, I can talk because I was not born deaf. When I was five I had this group of friends from kindergarten. Sometimes after school, one parent would pick us all up and we would play. We were all just kids, playing around, sharing juice pouches, just doing what we thought was fun. The problem with sharing juice pouches is that germs spread very easily that way. At the time no one thought anything of it, but then my friend Andy got really sick. When he got to the hospital, they tested him and he came back positive for Meningitis. They were able to treat his, it went away without much damage. Then we found out that I contracted it. I wasn’t so lucky. I don’t remember how it happened exactly, but I woke up one day in the hospital and I couldn’t hear anything. I can talk because I learned to before I lost my hearing. I probably don’t have the greatest voice and I probably sound weird, but it helps to communicate. Most people who haven’t been around verbal deaf people just think it’s an accent. It’s unpreventable anyway. So, what’s something that happened in the last six months that really changed you?”

Sean had to fight back the urge to get up and pull Finn into a massive hug. He felt horrible, that such a kind and generous person would have to go through so much trauma. “Finn. I’m so sorry. I know that you don’t want pity and I won’t give it to you, but what happened to you, it just seems unfair.”

“Life is unfair Sean. But being able to deal with that is what makes you a better person. Now answer your damn question!” Finn laughed to let Sean know that the last part wasn’t serious.

“Okay. My team mates all know one version of this story, but their version is edited pretty nicely in my favor. I don’t really know where to start. I’m not sure how much you know about the NHL, but for the first half of the season we were locked out. I got sent down to the Flyers’ AHL team, the Phantoms. I really missed the Flyers but I was getting the opportunity to still play with my friends Brayden, Zac, and Harry. I was content. But I wasn’t the only person who had feelings in the mix. My girlfriend Laurence, sorry ex-girlfriend, was along for the ride as well. Things were going great between us. I really did think that we were happily in love. Then sometime around the beginning of October, Laurence realized that she had missed her period. She thought that she could be pregnant. I was shocked. We were always so careful, but I wanted this baby to come into the world and be loved. I decided to do the ‘right’ thing and ask her to marry me. But when I came home from the rink early one day to set up the proposal, I found Laurence in our bed with another man. Another hockey player. Pretty much my arch rival, James Neal. It turns out that she had been traveling back and forth to see him. The baby was his, not mine. I fell apart after that. I’ve done some things that I am not proud of, and have hurt some people that I truly care about. I think that it had a huge impact on how I now see my life plan. So, uhm, how old are you?” Sean had just spilled his guts to a man he hardly knew. This was not what he had planned for the day.

Finn moved around the table to Sean’s side and wrapped his arms around him in a comforting hug. This was somehow exactly what Sean needed. He could feel his dark clouds already lifting. “You deserve so much better than her. You really do.” He sighed, but switched the topic for Sean’s benefit, “I am twenty three years old. How old are you?

“I just turned twenty in December. I don’t know what I deserve right now. I haven’t felt as happy as I did today in your classroom in a very long time.” He took a deep breath, and then blurted out, “Can I come back to visit again?”

“Any time you would like to, the kids and I loved having you.” They continued their game long past twenty questions. Sean enjoyed every minute of it. He didn’t know what it was about Finn, but he found himself drawn to the other man.

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After that trip to the coffee house, Sean’s visits to PSD became a common occurrence. Once the short so-called training camp ended, if he wasn’t on the road for games or at practice, Sean found himself making his way towards the school. It got to the point where he even got his own ID badge in the office because he was there at least two or three times a week. When he couldn’t make it to the school, he found himself thinking about the students, and Finn. Somehow he always came back to Finn.

Just like that first day, Sean’s visits to the school always end with the two of them sitting in the same booth at the hipster coffee place drinking coffee and talking. The more time that he spent with Finn the more he felt connected to him. He had never felt like that before with anyone who wasn’t involved in hockey, even Laurence hadn’t managed to bridge that gap. If Sean was being completely honest with himself, he hardly even thought about her anymore. His thoughts now focused around four things; hockey, food, sleep, and his visits to the school.

His transition didn’t go unnoticed by his friends. He even managed to coax Brayden into epic NHL ’13 battles, and let Brayden win every so often just because Sean is oh so generous and Brayden’s on ice skills do not translate to the game, like they used to. He also began to make the effort to keeping up with what is happening with his team mate’s lives. When he got chirped for his hair by the entire Flyers’ roster, Sean rolled with it because he was just so glad to be back.

Sean was starting to finally feel like himself again, except for when he was on the ice. The team as a whole was having a hard time meshing. That much was evident when you lost the first three games of a season and couldn’t put a winning streak together. Sean tried to remind himself that they were only a month into the season and not out of the running completely, but he knew that with the shortened season every game mattered. Even when the team seemed to make a little progress, Sean felt like he was left standing in quick sand. He made horrible turnovers during games that led to goals for the other team. It’s after tough losses when he felt like he was responsible for the failure, when he felt like he could be slipping back into the deep dark pit that used to be his life, that he broke down and texted Finn. They texted occasionally during their time apart, but it’s usually limited to funny jokes that Sean heard in the locker room and adorable moments that Finn encountered in the classroom. But on the nights of a hard loss, Sean emotionally vomits through text message and Finn lets him, and responds with exactly what Sean needs to hear.

After an embarrassing 5-2 loss to the Florida Panthers in late February, Sean didn’t know whether he wanted to punch through a wall or curl up in a ball and cry. The latter is a feeling that he would never admit to anyone, except Finn. Sean tried to fight the urge to text him. He really did. But when he found himself alone in his room after passing up the offer to go drink away his sorrows with his team mates, he caved. He picked his phone up from the nightstand and hit the home button, he was a little surprised to see a text from Finn already waiting for him.

To: Sean  
From: Finn  
Saw the game. Sorry about the loss. Text me if you want to talk.

It’s almost scary how well Finn can read Sean’s face even when it was just a flash on television. They had only known each other for a little over a month. Sean let that slip from his mind as he typed out a reply to Finn.

To: Finn  
From: Sean  
We sucked out there. I was a fucking disaster.

To: Sean  
From: Finn  
You were not a disaster, Sean. You can’t blame yourself. Last time I checked, there are twenty five other players on your team.

To: Finn  
From: Sean  
They still played better than me.

To: Sean  
From: Finn  
That’s bullshit. You weren’t on the ice by yourself when those five goals were scored.

To: Finn  
From: Sean  
You’re right. But we still lost...

To: Sean  
From: Finn  
I know this isn’t what you want to hear but here it goes...you’ve lost games before. None of those games made you quit, and this game won’t either. Sometimes life sucks, but it gets better!

To: Finn  
From: Sean  
I want it to get better now.

To:Sean  
From: Finn  
You have to give it time. Every minute is a new minute, every day a new day. How you guys played tonight doesn’t have to effect your next one. That is if you don’t act like a total idiot about it.

To: Finn  
From: Sean  
Wow...I am being an idiot, aren’t I?

To: Sean  
From: Finn  
Maybe a little...but at least now you know so you can fix it.

To: Finn  
From: Sean  
Thanks Finn. It really means a lot to me that you watched the game tonight.

To: Sean  
From: Finn  
It was a real struggle for me, haha!

Sean smiled at that. Once again Finn had managed to completely lift his mood. They texted back and forth a few more times before saying goodnight. Sean was still buzzing after his conversation with Finn when he closes his eyed, unable to fight off his exhaustion any longer.

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A few days later, Sean was feeling a little better about everything. The team had a pretty nice victory the day before against the Jets and were hoping to keep that momentum going against the Leafs in the next game. He had to admit that Finn’s words had stuck with him. He needed to look forward, harping over losses wouldn’t help him play better.

Sean was just tying the laces of his sneakers after practice when Danny came over to him. Sean had remained close with all of the Briere boys since he had moved out. Even when he was battling all of his demons he made sure to answer their texts and make sure that they were still functioning while their dad was far away in Berlin. He looked up to see Danny fidgeting a little while standing in front of him. 

“Hey Sean, how have things been going?” Danny asked. Sean knew that Danny wasn’t too happy with his behavior during the time leading up to the season. Who would be? Sean himself was disappointed that he allowed himself to sink to that level. It made him feel ashamed, especially when someone he looked up to as much as Danny refered to it.

“I’ve been better lately. A friend of mine has been helping me deal with the stress of everything.” Sean replied softly. He didn’t want to talk about his mistakes with Danny, not when he had been trying so hard to be more positive.

“Ah, yes. Brayden mentioned that you had been spending a lot of time at that school that you visited,” Danny replied, “did you meet this friend there?” Sean was ninety percent sure that Danny knew the answer to that question, and he was wary of bringing Finn up to Danny, but he knew the older man would wiggle it out of him one way or another.

“Yeah. He is actually the teacher that I was placed with when we visited,” Sean attempted to keep his voice from shaking, “we ended up going out to get coffee after school that day and we have kept in touch.”

Danny gave a gentle nod like he was trying to decide what to say next. Sean was reminded of how hard it is to read the veteran’s face when he didn’t want you to. “And this guy...”

“Finn.” Sean supplied.

“Finn, right. So you get along well with Finn?” Danny asked, his expression still unreadable.

“He’s amazing. He really is. I mean watching him where he is most comfortable in the classroom is...just awesome. He’s so great with the kids and he just loves them all so much. And then he’s been helping me so much with internalizing stress and feeling better when I think I’ve played like crap. He’s also really smart, like probably rocket scientist smart. And he likes comic books, and he can go on and on about them for hours. I’ve never met someone who can do that about something besides hockey, but God he claims he is a Hawks fan...” Sean stopped his rambling when he saw Danny trying to hold back a knowing smile.

“He sounds great Sean. You should bring him around sometime, I’d love to meet him and I’m sure some of the other guys would as well.” Sean looked at the guys around the room. They’re like his family, but they are also crazy as hell. Claude was talking to Simmer animatedly, if Sean were to guess it’s probably about some television show that they both got hooked on because it was on Netflix. Max was walking around the room half naked, because he had been banned from hanging around fully naked after someone’s cousin-daughter-sister, whatever, walked in and got an eyeful. He noticed that Luke was engaged in a conversation with Bryz about God only knows what, but Bryz had actually started to draw a diagram to explain what he was saying. His eyes flashed to Brayden, the seemingly calm of the storm. Brayden caught him and held up his hand signaling that he would be ready in five minutes and that they could leave. Sean took one more look around the room before shaking his head.

“I don’t know Danny. All of this,” he said motioning towards their team mates with his hands, “maybe a little too much for him. It’s hard for him to read lips when there are a lot of people around and they aren’t looking right at him...”

“He’s deaf?” Danny asked and Sean nodded. He didn’t mean to leave that part out in his description of Finn, but he doesn’t even really think about it anymore. When he and Finn are together, it doesn’t matter. It has never really mattered to him. “Oh, you didn’t mention that before when you were describing him. Well maybe the locker room isn’t the best place for him to meet all of the guys.” He paused thinking, “What if we do dinner at my house on Tuesday, take out of course. We can invite a couple of the guys over, just hang around. I think it could be a really good opportunity for him to meet at least some of us. He’s got to know what he is getting into with you.” Sean raised his eyebrows confused at the last part.

“That does sound much better than just bringing him here. I think anyone hearing or not would be a little overwhelmed with this crowd.” Danny laughed at that.

“You’re probably right about that. At least dinner could be a semi controlled environment. So what do you think?” Danny asked.

“I’ll have to ask Finn, but that sounds good.” Sean thought that it actually sounded excellent. He wanted Finn to meet his other friends, the guys he talked about all the time. “Who are you planning on inviting? They’d have to know before we got there that Finn is deaf...that they need to let him look at their lips when they are speaking.”

Danny nodded. “I was thinking maybe Claude, Brayden, Luke, Matt, Wayne, and Jake. That gives us a good mix of crazy and sane. I will make sure that they all know that they need to be aware of what they are doing while talking.” Sean was about to reply when they were interrupted.

“Hey Sean, you ready to go? I’m thinking tacos and then crashing on the couch.” Brayden said. Sean couldn’t help but smile at that, those Schenn boys always had food on their minds, and nodded. He looked over to Danny to make sure that the conversation was over. Danny was looking at his phone, but looked up when he noticed Sean’s look.

“I’ll ask the guys and make sure everything is ready, even if Finn doesn’t want to come. We can all still hang out.” Danny said.

“Thanks Danny. This means a lot.” Danny waved him off as he went back to looking at the screen of his phone again. Brayden nudged Sean before looking toward the door and making a gesture that Sean was sure was supposed to convey how starving he is and that he needed tacos right away. Sean laughed and pulled Brayden out of the locker room and towards the parking lot.

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It turns out that Brayden was not only hungry for tacos in general, but very specific tacos. Apparently they were the best in the world, Sean still felt like a taco was a taco, but he also knew from experience that it is not a good idea to argue about food with a Schenn. Their ride there had been filled with small talk, mainly about what they did well on the ice last night and what they need to do when they play the Leafs. 

Once they got to the restaurant, which had better have some damn good tacos because they had to drive all the way from the practice rink in Vorhees to what looked like any other taco place Sean had seen in his life. The words “El Zarape” hung over the door, that meant nothing to him but apparently a hell of a lot to a large amount of people. Sean could already hear the Mariachi music before the door was even open. The restaurant was packed, but it was Sunday and lunch time so that probably shouldn’t have come as much of a surprise. The hostess brought them to a table near the back of the restaurant. Once they were comfortably seated, with their drinks ordered, Brayden wasted no time.

“So what were you and Danny talking about back at the rink?” Brayden asked pseudo innocently. 

“Oh uh. Danny wanted me to bring Finn around to meet the team. He thinks that it would be a good opportunity, but I told him that it might be a little much for him since everyone is all over the place. Danny offered to have some of the guys over for dinner so that Finn can ease in. Maybe make him a little more comfortable.” Sean replied honestly, then added, “You’re invited to come by the way, I’d actually really like for you guys to meet each other.”

“Really? I thought that you were pretty intent on keeping him away from all of us.” Brayden said with a hint of an undecipherable tone.

“Why wouldn’t I want you there Bray? You’re my best friend and he’s my friend. Of course I want you guys to meet and get along. I just didn’t want to push him on you, and you on him.” Sean looked down, “I’m not sure that he is even going to want to come anyway.”

They were interrupted by the waitress coming back with their drinks and asking if they were ready to order. Brayden smiled politely and nodded, ordering both an order of tacos called “al pastor” and combo tacos. Sean gave him a pointed look as if to comment on the other man’s status as a bottomless pit, but ordered his chicken tacos when prompted. When the waitress left with their order, but not before sending a not so subtle wink to Brayden, the conversation continued.

“So you haven’t asked him yet? Do you really think that he will say no?” Brayden asked. Sean had to think about that. He wouldn’t blame Finn if he was against the whole idea in the first place. Sean still wasn’t sure why Danny had made such a big deal about Sean introducing Finn, they were just friends. Plenty of the guys had friends outside of hockey and they weren’t expected to introduce them. Sean snapped back to reality and answered.

“I don’t know. It’s not like it’s the end of the world if he doesn’t get along with everyone. I mean, we’re just friends. I think this whole formal introduction thing is weird.” Sean attempted to escape the sudden uncomfortable silence by taking a sip of his coke.

“You really don’t get it do you?” Brayden asked in a disbelieving tone, but when he was met by a blank look from Sean, he decided to drop that train of thought. “I mean, hockey is such a huge part of your life, right? Of all of our lives. It just makes sense for all the people in our lives to be a part of that.” Brayden looked away trying to keep Sean from questioning what he was saying.

“I guess you’re right.” Sean agreed. Before he can say anything else three plates of tacos were being placed on the table in front of them. Sean’s tacos looked far more simple than his friend’s, but again a taco is a taco. He noticed that Brayden had already managed to shove almost an entire taco in his mouth and decided that he should probably eat his before they ended up in Brayden’s mouth as well. One bite and Sean instantly knew that his initial judgement was wrong. These tacos tasted like heaven in a warm tortilla, but there was no way in hell that he was telling Brayden that. They ate their lunch with little more discussion and Sean managed to actually steal a taco when the waitress tried to flirt with Brayden again.

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When they got back to the apartment Sean headed off to his room while Brayden flopped on the couch ready for a nap after his feast. Sean laughed as Brayden wiggled around narrowly avoiding falling off the couch.

He keeps thinking about his conversations with Danny and Brayden. There was something that neither of them were telling him that was still confusing him. He decided that it was probably not all that important and settled in to finally text Finn. He froze, he had no idea how to go about asking. Especially not over a text message where he couldn’t see Finn’s reaction. No, that was not going to work. An idea popped into his head and Sean started typing.

To: Finn  
From: Sean  
Hey, is it okay if I stop by the school on Tuesday? I need to talk to you about something, and I miss the munchkins too.

Sean only felt a little pathetic about waiting impatiently, staring at his phone like it was his only lifeline. He set it down and started pacing, then stopped abruptly and wondered why he was pacing in the first place. When his phone buzzed and lit up he lunged across the room to get to it. When he saw that it was just a text from Caelan Briere telling him to watch a hilarious video about some Shake dance in Harlem or something non-Finn related, Sean nearly threw his phone. He was actually distracted by that thought when his phone buzzed again.

To: Sean  
From: Finn  
Sounds fine to me. Text me what time you think that you’ll be in. Good luck tomorrow, kick some Maple Leaf ass for me! 

Sean smiled at the message, before realizing that he hadn’t even really asked Finn yet which would be a much harder task. He should have probably texted Finn back by now...

To: Finn  
From: Sean  
I’ll try to kick some ass just for you. I’ll let you know what time I’ll be in on Tuesday. See you then :)

After it was sent Sean desperately wished that he could take that damn smiley face emoticon thing back. What is he a thirteen year old girl? He flopped dramatically down on his bed, hoping that Finn didn’t think that he was a complete idiot. He was rewarded by a text back that caused a relieved smile to form on his face.

To: Sean  
From: Finn  
:D

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Sean felt nervous as soon as he woke up on Tuesday. They lost to the Maple Leafs the night before and he had definitely lost a little of the confidence that he had after his talk with Finn the other night. He was still trying to take the high road, and trying not to think about all of the mistakes they made. Instead, he was now focusing on freaking out about what Finn’s reaction was going to be when he asked him to come to dinner later. He groaned before getting out of bed and moving towards the shower, hoping that it would help him clear his mind.

It didn’t. At this point he was just happy that he wasn’t hyperventilating because that might be a little hard to explain to Brayden when he had no idea why this was happening. It was not like he and Finn hadn’t hung out before. The baristas at the coffee shop knew them on a first name basis and they didn’t even have to actually order their drinks anymore. They spent a lot of time together, Sean considered Finn to be a great friend, but what if Finn didn’t feel the same? Sean groaned when his eye caught the time on his alarm clock. He had to leave to get to the school in ten minutes. The time crunch allowed Sean to get dressed without being too concerned about what he was about to do. He managed to be out the door and in his car within the next ten minutes, and just like that he was heading off to the school that had quickly become his favorite place to be.

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Sean made it to the school with about five minutes to spare before the kids were allowed to come to the room. Finn was buzzing around the room trying to make sure that everything was prepared for the day when Sean got to the room, so busy that he didn’t even realize that he wasn’t alone in the room. When he turned around and saw Sean he sent him a quick smile, which Sean returned, and then the crazy chaos of having twenty three kindergarteners in one room with only two adults descended upon them. He enjoyed every single minute of it though, he couldn’t deny that he had grown to love this chaos.

Sean chicken shitted out of asking Finn about dinner while they were eating lunch quietly in the classroom. He just couldn’t bring himself to risk pissing Finn off after the other man had just graciously split his peanut butter and jelly sandwich with him, because Sean had flown out of the apartment like a bat out of hell that morning, and forgot to grab something, that would be incredibly ungrateful. So he resigned himself to doing it at the end of the day after the kids left, that way if things went sour he could just make a quick break. Sean saw no flaws in that plan.

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After lunch, Sean found himself sitting in a tiny kindergartener sized chair surrounded by an abundance of crayons, glitter, and glue while a group of students used their creativity to decorate print outs of fish. He was still fidgeting with nerves, unable to fully distract himself even as the kids happily showed him their work for his approval. He needed a distraction and he needed one right away.

He grabbed a fish of his own to decorate and went to work. Sean took his time. Let himself get lost in the simple activity. He was so focused that it didn’t even really register what he was drawing until her heard a little chorus of giggles erupting from Miranda and Kenzi on either side of him. He snapped out of his haze and smiled at the girls. Kenzi’s smile was still beaming bright on her face when she started to sign.

That fish is silly. Once again a giggle erupted from the little girl. Her friend Miranda nodded in confirmation. Sean cocked his head to the side in confusion. 

“She said, ‘that fish looks silly’.” Finn said as he approached. Sean jumped a little and his heart began to race at the sound of his voice. Damn those stupid nerves. Finn moved to stand next to Sean and looked at the offending fish. 

“Silly? I don’t think so. I think my fish looks awesome.” Sean said jokingly, he looked back at his fish and the realization of why the girls thought it was so silly dawned on him. He could feel Finn tense up slightly next to him after he translated to the girls, he must have been seeing what Sean was seeing.

The fish in front of Sean was unique to say the least. Its scales depicted what was supposed to be a plaid print. Thick black glasses framed the fish’s visible eye, which Sean had to admit was way beyond his normal artistic ability, so his repressed feelings must have brought out the Picasso in him. But the thing that stood out the most about the fish, was the polka dot bow tie that sat proudly on the fish. It matched the one that Finn had worn the week before. Finn as usual was the one to break the silence.

“That’s some fish. Who would ever pair goofy glasses, plaid, and a polka dot bow tie together?” He said trying to lighten the situation up. Sean was not sure what the situation really was anyway but he picked up on Finn’s cue.

“I know someone.” He said with a sly smirk gracing his face, “But I don’t think his glasses are goofy, or his plaid and bow ties.” Finn blushed at that and ducked his head before looking back at Sean. They were broken out of their moment when a little boy named Josh demanded Finn’s attention and they both went back to what they should have been doing. Sean distracted, at least temporarily, from his proposal for Finn.

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Of course Sean didn’t anticipate how quickly the rest of the day seemed to go. It felt like it had only been a minute when the students were already packing up and headed out the door. He was now regretting not just getting it over with earlier. Finn returned to the room with a smile on his face. Sean let himself take in Finn’s appearance, admittedly he was too busy using the kids to distract himself during the day and freaking out during lunch to have noticed what Finn was wearing. Finn still looked the same as he always looked to Sean. His eyes were still framed by his thick black glasses, which Sean liked to pick on him for. His golden locks were actually tamed today into a side part and slicked down. Even his outfit was what Sean would describe as quintessential Finn. His cashmere v-neck sweater, one of his large collection that Sean swore should be featured on My Strange Addiction, was a dark gray color today. Finn hads that layered over what appeared to be a purple checkered button down with a black skinny tie. Sean let his eyes drift down to notice the well fitting black slacks that covered Finn’s lower half and his simple oxfords. Sean liked the way Finn dressed, he thought that it fit his really nerdy personality, but he also knew that not a single one of his team mates would ever even consider wearing what he does. Even Claude who insisted on wearing a plaid suits and owned a plethora of pastel silk shirts wouldn’t. Finn looked polished and put together, unlike what he himself and his team mates looked like. Sean was snapped out of his thoughts about bringing Finn around to meet his team in this particular outfit when he felt a hand tap his shoulder.

“Hey. Did you hear me calling your name? You totally zoned out on me.” Finn said once he had regained Sean’s attention. Sean blushed.

“No, I didn’t. I’m sorry. My mind is kind of all over the place today.” He answered.

“Okay. Do you want to head over to the coffee house and we can talk all about it? You always feel better once you get whatever is bothering you off your chest.” Finn responded kindly. Sean appreciated the way that Finn knew what he needed. 

“I actually was wondering if we could switch up our normal routine...” Sean said, when he received a quirked eyebrow from Finn in response, so he continued, “Danny asked if maybe you would like to come over to his house with me for dinner.”

“Danny? From the team? Are other people going to be there?” Finn didn’t look angry when he said this. 

“Yes. Just a few other guys from the team. We have been spending so much time together lately, and I talk about you a lot apparently, and they are all kind of anxious to meet you.” Sean looked a little embarrassed when he said this.

“You really want me to meet them? Isn’t introducing someone from the outside world like a big deal with you hockey players?” Finn inquired.

“I guess so. I mean, I think that you are one of my best friends Finn. The team, they are pretty much my family. Hockey is pretty much my life, it always has been, but I like being able to talk to you and spend time with you away from that. But, I don’t want to keep you separate from it.” Sean hoped this would get his point across, but he still couldn’t read Finn’s face. Finn took a deep breath, trying to process what Sean has just said. 

“Okay. If you want me to meet them, then I want to meet them. It’s obviously important to you.” Finn responded after a few moments.

“Really?” Sean asked hopefully, Finn nodded in response, and Sean had to restrain himself from doing a happy dance. He reached forward and wrapped Finn in a quick hug before pulling back with a smile on his face.

“So when are we supposed to be at Danny’s?” Finn said reading the clock over the door that says 4:30, wondering where the last hour went. Sean glanced at the clock and then back at Finn.

“He said around 5:30, but he lives out in New Jersey. It’s about a forty minute drive from here, but if you need to do more here before we can go, I can call Danny and tell him that we will be late.” Sean replied.

“I just have a math test that I need to grade so that I can put it in my grade book and send them home. You know, it would probably go much faster if someone else was helping me grade them...” Finn smirked. Sean sighed but agreed to help anyway, after all Finn was coming to Danny’s with him so he probably owed him big time.

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During the long car ride, Finn started asking more questions about who was going to be there. Sean had told him plenty of stories about all of the guys, but most of them had been about a prank they had pulled or that was pulled on them. He never really profiled what the guys were actually like off the ice.

“So you lived with Danny last year right?” Sean nodded, Finn continued, “Okay, he has the three sons right? The ones who always text you about those crazy memes and videos?” Sean had to laugh at that description of the boys. He nodded again. “But the boys won’t be there tonight, right?”

“No, they are with their mom this week,” Sean explained, “but that might be for the best tonight. Their crazy on top of crazy hockey players probably wouldn’t have gone so well.” That drew a laugh out of Finn, who was facing toward Sean in his seat so that he can read his lips.

“So who else did Danny invite?” Finn asked, Sean noticed that he was fidgeting. Sean reached over and grabbed Finn’s hand without even thinking, trying to help him be less nervous. Finn’s eyes moved down to look at their intertwined hands, but Sean didn’t notice. When he saw Finn’s eyes on him he began to speak.

“He invited Claude, Brayden, Luke, Matt, Wayne, and Jake. I think. At least that’s who we agreed on,” Sean answered.

“Claude, Brayden, and Matt came with you to PSD on that first day, right?” Sean nodded. “So they know that I’m deaf?”

“They know many things about you Finn, and yeah that’s one of them,” he paused trying to decide how to phrase what he wanted to say, “to me, it doesn’t matter. You’re still you and that’s all that matters to. I wanted them to know that.” They sat in silence for a few minutes, Sean looked over at Finn worried.

“I’m not mad at you, Sean.” Finn said finally breaking the silence, “I’m deaf. I have been for eighteen years. I’ve learned to deal with it, but you haven’t yet. I just don’t want them to give you a hard time because of me.”

“These guys aren’t like that. Once they meet you they won’t even care. Actually they’ll probably like you more than me and offer you my spot on the team.” Sean assured him, “Plus I’m pretty sure Danny has already threatened to brutally torture anyone who acts like an ass to you with his bare hands.” Both men laughed at that.

“Isn’t Danny like really small though?” Sean laughed in response to that question and nodded, “So someone smaller than me, who I have never even met before, is going to physically defend my honor. I like Danny already. Maybe I’m friends with the wrong Flyer.” Finn smirked. Sean let out a huff and pouted, this only made Finn laugh harder.

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By the time they made it to Danny’s house it was already 6, due to the large amount of assholes on the road at rush hour in and around Philly, frankly Sean was just glad that he didn’t get run off the road by an eighteen wheeler. Finn agreed when Sean said this.

They headed towards the front door where Danny is waiting to meet them. He gave Sean an apologetic look before turning and giving Finn a welcoming smile, and reaching out to shake Finn’s hand.

“Hi, you must be Finn. I’m Danny, I’ve heard so much about you. Come on in the guys are in the kitchen waiting.” Danny said in his best hostess voice.

“It’s so nice to meet you Danny, you have a really lovely home.” Finn replied politely before reaching behind him to feel Sean as if he was making sure that Sean didn’t just abandon him in the lions den.

“Oh, well thank you. You should see it normally though, it usually far worse when the boys are here.” Danny said before motioning for them to follow him. They did and when they entered the kitchen they were met by the stares of eight hockey players. Brayden, Luke, Matt, Claude, Wayne, and Jake were there as expected, but there were also two surprise guests. Sean froze when he saw Hartsy and Max, because he thought that the whole point of dinner was to eliminate the crazy in the meeting. He put his hand on Finn’s shoulder and Finn looked at Sean waiting for him to begin talking.

“Hey guys, this is my friend Finn. Try to not scare him off please.” The guys all laughed at that, and waved towards Finn. Finn waved awkwardly back. Then Scott did something strange and raised his hand. Finn and Sean both cocked their heads at him.

“What? He’s a teacher right? Permission to speak?” Hartsy, said directing his questions towards Sean. Finn couldn’t help but let out a chuckle at that.

“Permission granted.” he said with a smile.

“Whoa! You understood me, and you can talk, but Danny said you were...OUCH! Jesus G what the hell was that for?” Claude looked pleased after slapping Hartsy upside the head, and Hartsy got the hint to stop talking. Sean tensed up and moved closer to Finn out of reflex.

“I read your lips, that’s how I could tell what you said. I’m still deaf, but if I can see your lips while you’re talking, I’ll be able to decipher what you are saying.” Finn said with a hint of humor, “And yes, I can talk and sign, all the better to chirp you Hartsy.” And that was all it took for the guys to latch on to Finn. Sean introduced Finn to each of the guys as they made their way around the kitchen before the group all assembled at the kitchen table. It took them a few minutes to get in the habit of looking at Finn when they talked and signaling to him when they were going to start, but they managed to do pretty well. If he did miss something, Finn turned to Sean and he explained it to him. Finn kind of enjoyed having his usual interpreter role swapped with Sean.

Finn struck up a conversation with Brayden over embarrassing habits of Sean’s. This shouldn’t really have surprised him, but he just realized how absolutely lethal his two best friends being together would prove to be.

“Oh my God, he did what when he was drunk?” he heard Finn say between fits of laughter, Brayden was in pretty much the same state.

“He just took his teeth out right in the middle of the bar and started talking about ‘less teeth, more tongue’. After that we managed to block Tumblr on all of his devices before he got any more ideas for pick up lines from there.” Finn was hysterical at this point and Sean wanted to curl up into a ball and die. The night after his first NHL hat trick had been pretty much a booze induced blur, and he was not proud of what he had said or done that night. He leaned forward and all but slamed his head into the table. This earned a comforting pat from Finn on his back even though both of his friends were still laughing at him. Sean heard the doorbell ring and Danny call out that he was going to get the food. Sean felt a little bit relieved that Finn and Brayden couldn’t laugh at him while they ate or they would choke and die. 

When they were all seated around the table again eating their food, Sean let it all soak in. Finn was here with him and getting along wonderfully with all of his team mates. He couldn’t help the smile that spread across his face, Finn elbowed him in the side and gave him a smile of his own.

After dinner, Finn somehow managed to find himself in a very strange debate with Hartsy. Sean wasn’t even sure that he knew how it started. 

“Just think about it Finny. Falling down has to have some effect on people, why can’t falling down demonstrate someone’s high integrity and intelligence?” Scott asked again. Yeah Sean had no fucking idea how this conversation escalated to this point. Finn wasn’t giving Hartnell any room on this one.

“That is not scientifically proven to be true. That is almost like saying that someone’s hair color makes them a better hockey player.” Finn replied. This drew a groan from Danny, Max, Brayden, Luke, and Wayne. Finn may not have heard it but he could see the looks on their faces. “What did I say?”

“You’re talking to a team that has quite a few very talented gingers!” Claude piped in. Finn formed an incredulous look on his face, he had no idea how to respond. Claude continued, “I mean they don’t call me the ‘Ginger Jesus’ for nothing.” 

“Please tell me that you are joking. Your talent doesn’t lie within your hair, you’re not Rapunzel!” Finn replied. 

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Off topic people. Lets stick to the falling down theory,” Hartsy cut in. The discussion continued a little longer and pretty soon Hartsy was talking loudly and waving his arms around to try to justify his point, Sean was reminded again of exactly why he didn’t want to invite Scott in the first place. Once Hartsy was on a roll though, it was impossible to stop him. That should be a theory for debate. An over animated move on Hartsy’s part ended up flinging a glass of beer all over Finn, soaking through his sweater. Danny was already moving over towards the cabinets to get Finn a towel, and Hartsy began to apologize almost immediately. 

“It’s okay Hartsy. I know you’re jealous that I’m winning this argument and that you’re...well...completely wrong, but I’m pretty sure that you wouldn’t dump beer on me just to distract me from the argument.” Finn joked, forgoing sign language since his hands were pre occupied. 

“Oh shit Hartsy, need some ice for that burn!” Max chirped. Luke, Matt, and Wayne quickly added in insults of their own. Sean turned his attention back to Finn to make sure that he was okay. Finn gave him a knowing nod, before he started to assess the damage. He pulled his v-neck sweater over his head, then loosening his tie before removing it all together. His button down was wet as well so he decided to ditch that too, happy that he had worn an undershirt when he had gotten dressed this morning. He unbuttoned the shirt from the bottom to the top and then slid the shirt off his shoulders. Finn didn’t look up from the task at hand until he had removed all the articles of clothing effected by the spill. He was relieved when he saw that his undershirt remained fairly unscathed and that it was still able to be worn. When he looked up he was met my the unnerving stares of ten hockey players. He immediately looked to Sean for guidance to see if maybe he missed something that one of the other men said when he wasn’t looking at their lips, only to be met by an intense look that Finn could only place as shock. Finn had absolutely no idea what was going on and was on the verge of freaking out. Danny cleared his throat and everyone but Sean moved back to what they were doing before the spill, minus the debate.

Sean looked over his friend once more. When Finn had removed his long sleeve shirt with a collar, he revealed intricate tattoos of all shapes and colors that stretched and looped down his arms and wound up onto the sides of his neck. Sean was at a loss. He knew that Finn was looking to him for an answer and he saw him beginning to start freaking out so he closed his mouth and gently reached out a hand and traced the outline of the sugar skull that adorned the left side of Finn’s neck. Sean still had an indecipherable look on his face, but Finn was connecting the dots about what had suddenly shocked the other men. Finn didn’t really think about his tattoos as being offensive, but he also knew that people tend to have very specific reactions to them. Finn knew that the image he projects when in his work environment leads people to believe that he is very clean cut, and he is, with the exception of the large amounts of skin covered in ink. He looked back into Sean’s eyes and Sean dropped his hand and moved his attention back to his team mates, but not before giving Finn a smile that conveyed both his acceptance and curiosity. Finn blushed and turned away, once again very thankful that he had decided to wear an extra shirt today, because if the tattoos that were currently on display shocked them, they would have lost their minds if they saw the ink that was scrawled across his chest and back.

The rest of the night passed easily. Finn blended right back in with the guys and Max insisted on showing Finn all of his “sick ink”. Pretty soon most of the guys were yawning and bowing out gracefully stating their exhaustion. Finn allowed each of the players to put their phone numbers in his phone, and he put his in theirs as well before they all split in different directions. Finn made sure to thank Danny once again for his hospitality after he had slipped his jacket back on and was walking toward the door with Sean. Sean was still shocked by the ink that covered him, simply because Finn had always been so covered up. For Sean though, the ink didn't change how he saw Finn. If anything it had just made him more curious about the complexities of Finn that he was still discovering.

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Sean drove Finn back to his apartment to drop him off. They talked about the guys a little bit in the car. But Sean had something else on his mind, and Finn tried unsuccessfully to avoid the conversation.

“So how come you never mentioned your tattoos before?” Sean asked innocently as he navigates the highway.

“I don’t know. It just never seemed like something important enough to bring up.” Finn said shrugging, “Do you like hate tattoos or something?” Finn asked nervously and began to fidget.

“No!” Sean protested then backtracked, “I mean, I’ve never really given tattoos much of a thought, but I like yours. They must mean something important if you chose them.”

“It was just another way to express myself when I turned eighteen I guess. I rebelled pretty hard against my conservative upbringing. It started out with a small tattoo of a mute button symbol. Then I just got really into it I guess. I never intended to have as many as I do now, but I like them. They are all a part of my journey.” Finn explained.

“So, more to come since your journey is far from over?” Sean asked. Finn grinned back at him, it was kind of awesome that Sean understands him the way that he does. They talked about anything and everything for the rest of the drive back to Finn’s apartment. Finn talked about the lesson plans he needed to complete, and Sean told Finn about a conversation that he had with his mother a few days ago which had left him thoroughly confused. When they finally reached Finn’s apartment building, Sean dropped him at the front door and promised to swing by the school tomorrow. Finn waved from the door and Sean headed home himself.

Sean was exhausted by the time he actually made it back to his own apartment. He fell into bed, still thinking of the brilliant colors and the lines of the designs that were etched on Finn’s skin. He allowed himself to fall asleep thinking about the other man, and if he thought a little about where those tattoos may lead below his abdomen, Sean blamed it on how much of an emotional roller coaster that the day had been.

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It had been two months since Sean visited PSD for the first time. It seemed like every free minute that he had was either spent in that classroom or hanging around with Finn. It seemed as if that night at Danny’s had become a bit of a turning point. He and Finn had now been hanging out even on days where he couldn’t make it to the school during school hours. They went to see closed captioned movies together and texted almost constantly. Sean hadn’t felt this good in a long time. He was just so happy that he had Finn as a friend.

After spending so much time with Finn and the kids, Sean started itching to be able to communicate with them on his own. He knew that Finn didn’t mind interpreting for him when he was in the classroom, but it could also take away from Finn’s ability to actually teach the kids which was more important. 

It was more than just what happened in the classroom though. Sean felt guilty that Finn always had to read his lips. The other man had never complained to Sean about the fact that he had to be the one to adapt to the situation when they were together. Sean knew that it was exhausting and difficult to read lips all the time. When they were together relaxing, Finn shouldn’t have had to constantly study Sean’s face to understand what he was saying. 

When Finn needed him most in a time of emotional stress, Sean couldn’t even let him express himself in his own language. They were spread out on Sean’s bed watching Lord of the Rings with subtitles, and Sean could feel that there was something off with Finn. He had been trying to let Finn bring it up, but in the movie the fellowship was fast approaching Morodor, and Sean couldn’t take it anymore. He reached over and grabbed the remote and paused the movie. Finn made a disgruntled sound before he turned and looked at Sean with a questioning look on his face. 

“Why did you turn it off?” Finn asked, Sean could pick up the slight edge in his voice. It was subtle, but it was there.

“Finn,” Sean replied, making sure to look into Finn’s eyes, “What’s going on with you? And don’t tell me nothing because I know you well enough to know when something is wrong.” Finn moved to protest, but Sean silenced him with a single look. A look that conveyed that Sean was accepting no bullshit. Finn sighed.

“I got a call from my mother on Skype the other day.” Sean took note of Finn’s tone, and nodded to encourage him to continue. “She...she wants me to go home. To go back to Chicago. She said that I’ve wasted enough time rebelling, enough time being a disgrace to the family by being a pathetic teacher and living here in Philadelphia.” Finn choked out the words and Sean could see the tears welling in his eyes. He automatically pulled Finn closer to him and wrapped his arms around him and buried his face into the crook of Finn’s neck. He could feel tears coming to his own eyes as well as he listened to Finn let out a few sobs. He pulled back and wiped the tear tracks on Finn’s face with the pads of his thumbs. Finn took a deep breath before continuing, “She made me feel so worthless, Sean. So fucking worthless.”

“Hey, you’re not worthless.” Finn tried to duck his head, but Sean pulled his chin up gently. “No. You listen to me. You are one of the greatest people that I know. What you do with those kids is absolutely amazing. No one can take that away from you. This is where you belong, not in Chicago working some job that you absolutely hate because that’s what your parents want.” Sean took a deep breath, “You belong here. With the school, and the kids, and with...me.”

“You want me here?” Finn whispered, Sean nodded seriously, “I have no idea what you see in me. I am such a fucking mess. So weak...” Sean interrupted him.

“You’re so strong, Finn. And Brave. I’m thankful that you actually waste your time on someone like me, when you clearly are settling in the friend department, while I’m the reacher. You shouldn’t doubt yourself, you should know that you’re amazing.” Sean smiled at Finn to let him know that his words were sincere. Finn let out a little grin in response.

“I’m thankful for you. Thanks for making me feel better.” He pulled Sean in for another comforting hug, before snatching the remote from him. “Now lets watch Frodo and Gollum go all crazy over the ring.” He pressed play, and both men settled back in to finish the movie.

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One night a few days after that night at Sean’s apartment, the boys were all headed to the airport to catch their charter plane back to Philly after an away game. Sean could hear all of the craziness around him and wanted to know what it would be like to live in silence. What he did next would probably be considered offensive to the deaf community, and he would never tell Finn about it, but he had an idea. Sean pulled his fancy new Bose noise canceling headphones out of his bag. He positioned them carefully over his head and slipped into an almost silent world. It wasn’t that he couldn’t hear any sound, because he could hear some sounds that sounded far off and distant like he was underwater. Sean wondered if that was the kinds of sounds that Finn meant when he was trying to explain that his hearing aids allowed him to hear the shadows of sounds. Sean mentally slapped himself for that thought, even with headphones he still wouldn’t ever really understand how Finn had to perceive the world. Comfortable enough in his headphones, Sean began to look at the world around him. Danny would probably give him shit later for zoning out on the team while they were walking in the airport, but he had to try his little experiment. He told himself that he was doing it to see how Finn did it, admittedly Finn was also far smarter than Sean and had more practice, but Sean would be damned if that stopped him at this point. Sean looked at peoples lips as he passed them and couldn’t make any of the words out, he figured that maybe they were just too far away. He got his first hand experience of one on one lip reading when Brayden plopped down in the seat next to him on the plane. They usually sat together and talked or watched movies during the flight. He turned towards Brayden and waved. Brayden quirked an eyebrow at him before saying something...Sean couldn’t really make it out so he asked Brayden to repeat it. Brayden tried again and this time Sean thought that he said something along the lines of “why are you wearing your headphones?” Sean attempted to explain to Brayden, without screaming and disturbing the rest of the team, that he wanted to see what it would be like to lip read. Brayden didn’t slug him in the shoulder like he half expected, but he did give Sean a look that expressed how stupid he thought the other man was being. Brayden ended up falling asleep anyway, and Sean took the opportunity to see if he could read any of his other team mates’ lips. He soon found out how hard it was, and also that he was really truly terrible at it. 

It was on that flight while struggling to read what people were saying, that Sean realized that he didn’t want to make Finn ever feel like that. He decided right then and there that he wanted to be able to communicate with Finn in a more natural way for Finn. He was going to learn ASL.

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Claude, Wayne, Luke, and Jake were at Sean and Brayden’s apartment one day for what the boys had determined would be a fight to the death...in Mario Kart. Sean passed on their invite for him to join in, claiming that he was really sore from a hit he took the night before and that he needed to ice it. Sean knew that he probably shouldn’t have been blowing his friends off, but he had a night full of plans before they had shown up.

Sean had been in his room alone for almost an hour before Luke decided that it might be a good idea to check on him. He passed his controller to Brayden, they were chosen to share of course, because if anyone in the entire world didn’t know they were...wait for it...brothers, and left the chaos of the living room. Luke moved to the kitchen first and grabbed a beer for himself and one for Sean before heading down the hallway to Sean’s bedroom. He placed his ear to the door to make sure Sean wasn’t doing something that Luke absolutely did not want to think about him doing and then opened the door.

Luke walked in on Sean practically buried in books. Sean didn’t acknowledge his presence at first, so Luke closed the door and moved toward the bed. Sean looked up a little startled but calmed down when he saw it was Luke and gratefully accepted the beer being handed to him. Luke looked down at the books and picked one up looking at the cover, before sitting down on the bed and flipping through it.

“ASL. That’s American Sign Language right?” Luke asked Sean, still flipping through the book he had picked up. Sean nodded, still focused on the diagrams that he was looking at when Luke came in. “So, you’re learning sign language for Finn, right?” That caught Sean’s attention enough for him to look up from what he was doing.

“I just don’t think that it’s fair to expect him to just read my lips all the time.” Sean responded defensively, “He makes all of these concessions for me all the time, this is the least that I can do for him.” Luke was surprised by Sean’s tone.

“I’m not telling you that you shouldn’t learn, not at all,” Luke explained, “I actually think that it is pretty amazing and heartfelt of you to think about Finn and change yourself to make the communication barrier dissipate.” Now it was Sean’s turn to be taken aback. Sean knew that Luke was actually a really great guy. Even before he was traded to the Flyers, Sean was familiar with him through Brayden. That still didn’t stop Sean’s jaw from dropping a little bit. “Jesus, should I be offended that you are so shocked that I gave you a compliment?” Luke laughed.

“I just...I mean...I expected you to chirp me about this. To make fun of me. Any one of the other guys would have done that.” Sean said quietly. He looked down not wanting to meet Luke’s eyes.

“Yeah, well. Not many of them knew how bad you had gotten. I may not have witnessed it first hand, but Brayden did and he would call me distraught at four o’clock in the morning because you hadn’t come home, or you had passed out in a puddle of your own puke, or you had done something else that made him so upset that he was just unraveling. He would probably kill me if he knew that I was telling you this,” Luke paused and looked at Sean before he continued, “Knowing how bad you were in theory is something completely different then seeing it in person though. I think that after seeing what a mess you were in person that I held Brayden for two hours, don’t you dare mock us either, because I couldn’t understand how he held it together when someone he cared about was falling apart and not being able to do anything about it. If I were in his shoes, I don’t know if I could have handled it.” Sean could feel his chest squeezing tighter with Luke’s words. He never really wanted to think about the effect that his downward spiral had on those close to him. He had hid it from his mom and dad, but Brayden was with him every day and suffered because of it. Sean was broken out of his thoughts when Luke continued, “Anyway, I’m not saying all of this to hurt you, I have a point, I promise.” Sean nodded at that. “Seeing how low you were was hard, but seeing how going to that school and spending time with Finn has helped you so much. I know that you have to see the change too. I’m not saying that it was all on Finn, I know that you’ve improved yourself as well, but I think you owe Finn a hell of a lot,” This earned a grin from Sean, “and learning sign language so that you can communicate more easily is a great way to show him how thankful you are and how much you care.” Luke let Sean process everything for a moment.

“Holy shit Schenner, you just holy shit. I don’t even know what to say.” Sean’s brain was definitely short circuiting. “I know how selfish I was last fall. It was never my intention to hurt Brayden. It kills me to know how much it did. I’ll have to apologize a million times, and even that won’t be enough.” Sean composed himself, “And I swear that if I ever hurt him like that again, that you have my full and complete permission to hurt me by the method of your choice.”

“I’m going to hold you to that. I hope you realized what you just agreed to.” Luke said laughing before he turned serious. “You better not hurt him.” 

“I promise that I’ll try my best.” Sean said, “I owe a lot to Brayden too. I think he’d probably kick my ass if I ever stepped out of line again. And Finn. He changed something in me. I felt so selfish for wallowing in my own self pity, when he’s been handed something so hard to deal with in his life, and has never let it get him down.” Luke nodded, encouraging Sean to continue. “It’s really important to me to show him that I appreciate how much he has helped me out. I don’t want him to have to work to spend time with me. I want to give him back some of what he’s given me.” 

“So, you’re not just spending all that time in that school because you enjoy being in that classroom. You’re doing all of this because of who is there. You know that right?” Luke asked.

“I mean of course that has something to do with it. Those kids are so amazing. They manage to overcome everything that is thrown at them.” Sean replied.

“And their teacher has nothing to do with why you enjoy spending so much time in that school, and then going for coffee with said teacher afterward.” Luke hinted not so subtly.

“Finn is my friend, Luke. Of course I like spending time with him. And yeah, the whole sign language thing was inspired by him.” Sean said confused.

“You really don’t see it do you?” Luke asked incredulously. When he was met by Sean’s puzzled look, he elaborated, “You and Finn are more than friends.”

“What? Like best friends? Sure. I’d consider him one of my best friends, and I think he feels the same.” Sean responded. Luke face palmed, like actually face palmed and Sean felt like he must have been missing something obvious there.

“Not just friends. Not just best friends. Do I have to spell it out for you?” Luke responded exasperated.

“Not best friends either, more?” Sean asked and Luke nodded, “What’s more than just friends...wait...what? Like boyfriends?” Luke nodded again and Sean gawked at him, “It’s not like that. Like at all.” Sean sounded adamant, so Luke decided to drop it for the time being, but not before getting the last word.

“If you say so.” Luke settled in to learn the ASL alphabet, because why the hell not? Once he managed to master that, he dragged Sean out of the room so that he could have at least a little social interaction. Luke smiled when he saw Sean move over to Brayden and give him a hug. Then the chirping started back up and it was back to their own sense of normality.

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Sean tried unsuccessfully to shake the conversation that he had with Luke about his relationship with Finn. He enjoyed spending time with Finn, that was not a crime, but for some reason that “If you say so” that Luke had thrown out there made him feel like it was. Sean cut back on his hours at the school for the next week, trying to clear his head, but after four days of sitting around the apartment in between games and practices he caved.

That was how he ended up sitting in the coffee shop with Finn on Friday. Sean had one home game left before a two week road trip. He had been thinking about asking Finn to come to a game for a while now, but had never followed through with it. He was afraid that Finn wouldn’t be interested in going, afraid of the rejection.

This time though, he was growing a set and doing it. They were playing the Rangers tomorrow and those games were always exciting for fans. Plus, it was the last time he would see Finn for two weeks, and he was only partially ashamed to admit that he was attached to him, and the thought of not being able to see him for two weeks was probably one of the worst things that he could think of. It was damn near unbearable.

Finn was giving Sean a weird look as they sat across from each other in their usual booth. “You alright? You spaced out on me.” Finn asked looking at Sean seriously.

“Yeah, just thinking about something,” Sean responded before quickly adding, “would you like to come to the game tomorrow?” 

“Your game?” Finn asked and Sean nodded, “I’d actually really like that.” Finn smiled and Sean couldn’t help but return it. “What brought this on?”

“Well, I figured that since I have seen you when you’re working, it would be only fair if you go to come to work with me as well.” Sean replied, “Plus, you seem to be a lucky charm for me anyway, and God knows we need every amount of luck we can get with how we’ve been playing recently.” Finn gave Sean a little glare, and Sean laughed uncontrollably at that. Finn almost constantly reminded Sean that he needed to stop being so negative. They finished up their coffee and headed back towards Finn’s apartment. “I’ll pick you up tomorrow at four. The game doesn’t start until seven but you can hang around and meet people and stuff.” Sean said before Finn got out of the car.

“Sounds good. See you tomorrow, Sean.” Finn said, reaching over the console to give Sean an awkwardly positioned hug. Sean thought it was nice nonetheless and waved to Finn as he went.

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Sean headed over to get Finn the next day. He debated on parking his car and going in to pick Finn up, but talked himself out of it and sent Finn a text telling him that he was waiting outside in the car. He received a smiley emoticon from Finn in response, and fiddled with the temperature controls to busy himself while he waited for Finn. He jumped a little when there was a tap on the window and he turned and was met by a smiling Finn who sent him a quick wave before opening the door and sliding in.

“Hey. You all set?” Sean asked getting ready to pull away from the curb, he stopped when he noticed that Finn was wearing an orange t-shirt under his jacket with a familiar logo on it. “What are you wearing?” Sean asked, unable to keep his eyes off of Finn’s shirt. 

“The shirt?” Finn smirked, and Sean was incapable of doing anything but nodding. Finn in turn slipped his jacket off his shoulders and turned his back towards Sean. Sean gasped. There displayed proudly across Finn’s back was a large number fourteen with “Couturier” written above it. Sean couldn’t describe what he was feeling at the moment, seeing his name and number on Finn’s back. He hadn’t ever felt like that before. Not when he saw fans wearing his jersey when he was playing. Not when his family wore his number to support him. Not even when Laurence would occasionally wear his jersey. No, Sean had never felt that way when he saw someone wearing his name and number. He liked seeing Finn wearing the name “Couturier”, like it was branded on him. Finn turned back around and Sean automatically smiled easily at him.

“That is a very nice choice of shirt you have there,” Sean said trying to remain cool. Finn blushed picking up on something in Sean’s tone. He didn’t say anything, just turned to look at the passing Philadelphia scenery as they made their way toward the Wells Fargo Center.

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Finn could feel his nerves getting worse as Sean pulled into a parking spot in the players’ lot. Sean smiled over at him before hopping out of the car. He was over to Finn’s door before Finn could manage to get the door open and Finn blushed as Sean opened the door for him and then closed it behind him once he was out. Sean smiled at Finn then put his hand on his lower back to guide him into the building. Finn felt some of his nervousness disappear when Sean touched him, and he couldn’t help himself, he smiled back. Sean lead Finn through a hallway and through doors that Finn was pretty sure he was not supposed to go through on account of the fact that there was a huge sign that said “Flyers Authorized Personnel Only”. Sean shook his head and laughed when Finn brought this up.

“They don’t mean you, Finn.” Sean explained, “They mean like reporters and fans. Only certain people are allowed back here, but you’re with me, you’ll be okay.” Finn nodded, then looked around the room they had ended up in. It was the locker room. He had seen enough post game interviews to recognize the wooden benches and orange stripes that lined the room, not that he’d even needed that knowledge to be able to tell that it was the locker room since all of the players’ jerseys were neatly arranged in front of their stalls, just waiting for the players to slip them on before they headed out to the ice. Finn was still taking it in when a few of the players walked in. Finn barely processed the arms around him before he was being pulled into a bone crushing hug by Hartsy.

“It’s nice to see you too Hartsy but I can’t breath!” Finn said lightly gasping for breath. Scott’s grip on him loosened immediately. “That’s better.” Finn replied, signing as well now that he had the use of his hands again.

“It’s not my fault you’re all...” Hartsy said motioning with his hands like he was trying to think of a word, “...delicate?” Finn rolled his eyes at this but still laughed at the description.

“I am not delicate. It’s not my fault you’re so monstrous!” Scott laughed now as well. He landed a light punch to Finn’s shoulder before waving and walking off to his stall to get ready. Another tap on the shoulder left him face to face with the Schenn brothers. Brayden and Finn had been texting back and forth over the weeks since they met at Danny’s, and had formed an easy friendship over their mutual appreciation for Batman movies, go figure. Luke however was a bit of a mystery for him. He had heard snippets about him from Sean, and he knew the whole back story about how he was traded from Toronto to Philadelphia in order to play with Brayden. Finn thought it was cool that they got to play together, but he also knew that a lot of fans were really pissed about Luke playing in Philly because of what they gave up to get him. 

“Hey Finn.” Brayden broke the silence first, “How have you been doing? Sean didn’t tell me that he was making you come to a game.”

“Well, I had to come and see what you animals do for work in person.” Finn joked. Brayden laughed at that, and Finn thought that he might have gotten a tiny smile out of Luke. “So what have the two famous Schenn brothers been up to?” This seemed to break the ice a little with Luke. 

“Brayden here has been talking incessantly about the pros and cons of the Christopher Nolan Batman movies...thanks for that by the way.” Luke replied, drawing a scoff from Brayden, which caused both Finn and Luke to start laughing hysterically. Brayden just walked away from them trying to escape before he got anymore ribbing from the two of them and headed off to get ready. 

“I’m sorry that my love of Batman has begun to infiltrate your brother.” Finn said trying to maintain the joking tone of the conversation.

“No problem. Honestly, I’m just glad that it is Batman that he is fixating on and not something worse. He’s my kid brother and I love him, but he can be really serious and intense sometimes.” Luke replied.

“Really? He always seems so happy-go-lucky all the time.” Finn said a little surprised.

“Yeah, he’s kind of really good at hiding it behind that insanely goofy face, but his attitude can flip super quickly. Kind of like Sean’s.” Finn nodded at that, he had seen little flashes of how Sean could be flying high happy and then suddenly drop to thinking that he was worthless. “Hey, I should probably go get ready, but we should hang out sometime, get to know each other a little better.”

“I would like that.” Finn replied to Luke, and then let him go to do his pre-game ritual. Finn watched as a few people that he’d never met before greeted Sean with a few words and waved before moving off to their own stalls. He turned to look at Sean about to ask him where he should go, when he saw that Sean was talking to a couple of girls. He made his way over to Sean anyway, figuring that it was Sean who invited him to come in the first place. When he reached Sean, all three of the girls turned and smiled at him.

“Hey Finn, there you are.” Sean said turning to face him, “I want to introduce you to some people.” He looked like he was looking for some kind of reaction so Finn nodded at him. Sean seemed to accept this and continued. “This is Erin, Gina, and Ryanne. You are going to sit with them during the game.”

“It is very nice to meet you all,” Finn said with a polite smile, he was still not exactly sure how these girls fit into the picture, “forgive me, but how do you guys know Sean?” He said, trying to hide his sudden irrational flare of jealousy. This drew a laugh from all of the girls, and Finn couldn’t help but blush and think that he was missing something.

“My boyfriend is Matt Read,” the brunette Sean had identified as Erin explained, “I believe that you’ve met him right?” Finn stopped himself from actually face palming, he couldn’t believe that he was jealous over these girls knowing Sean. Of course they were wives and girlfriends. Finn smiled at Erin.

“Oh yes, I do know Matt.” Finn replied, “Although I must say, I’m surprised that he managed to snag someone as beautiful as you.” This drew a blush and a giggle out of Erin. He could feel Sean stiffen a little at his side but ignored it as he focused his attention on the girls. “So, you girls are also dating players?” Finn asked Gina and Ryanne.

“Yes. I don’t think that you have met my boyfriend yet though. I’m dating Zac Rinaldo.” Gina pointed somewhere behind Finn and he turned to see where she was pointing, he was met by the sight of a feisty Italian who looked like he was all eyebrows, Finn could tell even without hearing what he was saying that he was spiritedly chirping someone. He turned away from the chaos ensuing and looked back at Gina.

“He seems...interesting.” Finn said with extreme caution, the last thing he wanted to do was offend someone who he was going to have to sit with for the next three hours. But much to his surprise, Gina just laughed.

“He is an idiot.” Gina said still laughing, “But he is my idiot. You’ll see during the game.” Gina winked at him. He laughed too and then looked at the final girl, the one who Sean referred to as Ryanne.

“And I’m dating Claude Giroux.” She explained and threw him a sweet smile and Finn had to ask himself if it was possible for anyone to hate her. She just looked so sweet.

“I am so sorry. It must be horrible dealing with that absolute monster.” Finn said cheekily, he got a towel thrown at him from the direction of Claude for that comment, but it seemed to be the final straw that the girls needed to attach themselves to Finn. The girls started to make their way toward the door to head out and let the guys get ready. Finn turned around to say goodbye to Sean. 

“You’re going to be okay with them right?” Sean asked concerned. He hadn’t asked Finn how he would feel about sitting with the girls and despite Finn’s ability to befriend everyone apparently, Sean was still a little worried.

“I’ll be just fine, Sean.” Finn replied, he pulled Sean into a quick hug. “You are going to do great. Score a goal for me.” He pulled back, and Sean nodded. Finn waved once as he headed off to catch up with the girls. Sean shook his head and managed to somehow actually get ready for the game.

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The girls and Finn decided to go grab something to eat since the guys wouldn’t even be coming out to the ice for warm ups for another two hours. They had decided to head over to the Spectrum Grill since it was already in the sports complex. They settled down at a table and it didn’t take long for the interrogation to start.

“So,Finn, how long have you known Sean?” Ryanne asked attempting to be subtle before taking a sip from her drink.

“I guess it has been about two months now.” Finn replied easily, he knew exactly what Ryanne was getting at and he figured that it would be best to just answer their questions until they realized that he wasn’t all that interesting.

“You guys met when he was visiting a school right?” Erin asked, “I think Matt went with him on that trip, but he was in a higher grade level.” 

“Yeah, Sean was actually placed in my classroom. We went out for coffee after the kids left that day, and we have been talking ever since.” Finn said, thinking back over the past two months of his life that were invaded by a certain toothless ginger.

“Your classroom?” Gina piped in now, “You’re a teacher?” Finn nodded in affirmation to both of her questions. “Oh, that is so awesome! What grade do you teach?”

“I teach kindergarten.” That earned him excited looks from all of the girls. That shouldn’t have surprised him. Everyone loved kids at that age, they were still sweet and adorable before they got a little bratty.

“But...” Ryanne started before she stopped herself. Finn could see the guilty look that crossed her face almost immediately, and he knew exactly what she had been about to say. 

“But I’m deaf.” He finished for her. Suddenly all three girls were fascinated by the table. “Look, you don’t have to feel guilty for wondering. I’ve gotten asked a lot worse.” The girls managed to actually look at Finn now. “I actually teach at the Pennsylvania School for the Deaf, so all of my students are deaf and I sign to them when I teach.”

“That’s amazing.” Erin replied, “You’re kind of awesome, Finn. Has anyone ever told you that before?” Finn blushed and ducked his head, “So you and Sean are still able to communicate well right?”

“I mean it is difficult sometimes. He doesn’t sign and he can’t understand sign language either.” Finn replied honestly, “But, I wouldn’t trade getting to talk with him and hang out with him just because he doesn’t.”

“That’s so sweet.” Gina said after Finn finished. The girls gushed a little more about Finn and Sean, but offered up their own stories about how they met their boyfriends as they ate as well. 

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The four of them headed back over to the Wells Fargo Center after they finished with their food.They made it there with a few minutes to spare before the guys were supposed to take to the ice. There were already too many people crowded around the glass for warm ups, and the girls decide to not take the chance of being recognized, so instead they made their way to their seats before warm ups started. Finn and the girls were sitting in the stadium seats and not a family box. Finn was incredibly grateful about this for two reasons. One, he had never really understood the allure of box seats at sporting events when the atmosphere was so much better in the stands with the other fans. Two, because meeting the girls went well, but he wasn’t sure that it would go as well with any of Sean’s other team mates’ family members.

Finn watched intently as the players began to take the ice. The Rangers players skated out onto the ice first. Finn silently cursed Rick Nash in his head for those two goals that he had scored against the Flyers the last time the two teams had met up. He then focused his attention on the orange jerseys that were now flooding the ice. His eyes searched for the white number fourteen on the back of an orange jersey on the ice. When he found it he couldn’t help but smile widely. Finn could already feel his excitement spreading. 

Finn chatted with the girls for the rest of warm ups, at least when he could manage to pry his eyes away from Sean’s tall and lean form on the ice. Before he knew it, the game was about to start. He watched as the players got into position for the first face off and then the puck dropped. 

The game was a lot of back and forth, which was to be expected from these two teams. Finn spent the majority of the first fifteen minutes of the game on the edge of his seat, his eyes were trained on the actions occurring on the ice. Sean was playing well. Probably better than any time Finn had watched him play on television if he was being honest.

With two minutes left in the first period, the Rangers gave away the puck and Sean captured it and was skating quickly up the side of the ice, then he sent a perfect pass to Matt right to the middle shooting lane, and Matt buried it in the back of the net, lighting the lamp for the first time that night. Finn could feel the energy in the building intensify. The Flyers had drawn first blood. 

With less than thirty seconds left in the first, another turnover lead to Sean having a great breakaway opportunity. He deked once, twice and sent the puck flying top shelf past Lundqvist for a two goal lead. Finn couldn’t contain his excitement and jumped out of his seat automatically. The girls were shaking him and hugging him. In the midst of his excitement, Finn finally found some words.

“He did it! He broke his scoring drought!” Finn signed as he talked without even thinking. His hand gestures drew the attention of some of the other people in the section. Finn didn’t notice right away, because he was still riding the high of his friend scoring and the first period ending. What he did notice was that Ryanne had gone quite still next to him. He looked over at her and then at the other girls and that was when he noticed that something was off. Gina was yelling at a flailing middle aged man who clearly was more than a little intoxicated. He was facing Finn’s direction, so Finn focused and tried to catch some of what he was saying. He was able to pull the words “deaf” and “freak” out of the words that the man was spewing. The words stung. Finn couldn’t deny that. But he had had some pretty horrible things said to him and about him over the past eighteen years. The words only fueled Finn’s anger. He had never been one to let others fight his battles.

“Do you have a problem?” Finn asked the man in the most polite tone he could manage considering how angry he was becoming. By now they had drawn the attention of everyone in their section, which Finn now seemed to realize was filled with many more people who currently shared the man’s state of intoxication.

“Yeah. We have a problem. Freaks like you shouldn’t be allowed in a place like this. We don’t want any of your gang sign made up language.” The man snarled. Finn could see other people nodding in agreement, he also knew that they were probably all vocalizing their opinion too. Ryanne was still frozen in the seat to his left, but Erin and Gina had begun their own arguments with other people around them who had begun to heckle Finn.

“I am not throwing up gang signs, you ignorant prick. It is an actual language.” Finn replied cooly, figuring that if this guy was being such an ass, he didn’t deserve Finn’s well behaved private school manners.

“What did you just call me you little fucker?” The man’s face was turning the same color red as the Rangers uniform bottoms.

“I called you an ignorant prick. Do you need me to repeat it for you again? I thought I was the one who was deaf!” Finn goaded. The whole gang signs thing was taking it just a little bit too far for Finn’s tolerance zone. Usually he could deal with bigoted bullshit slurs thrown at him, but tonight was supposed to be centered around watching Sean play and cheering him on. It was supposed to be a nice night, and this dick wad was ruining that. Finn started counting to ten and tried to calm himself down. The players were back on the ice and ready to start the second period. He sent one final remark, “Fuck off and watch the game will you?” 

The man did not take this advice. In fact the group of about ten people in the section who had been supporting the man didn’t take that advice either. They all begun mocking and tormenting him. Finn tried to stay positive, he told himself over and over again that they were ignorant and that in the grand scheme of things they didn’t matter. 

The drunkards only got worse throughout the second period and into the third. He made it about four minutes into the third before he all but broke. He knew that egging the other man on earlier had only set fire to the situation. He let the man know exactly how to get under his skin and that was what everyone was doing now. He could tell that Gina had really had enough because she was clenching and unclenching her fists as if she was about to personally introduce the whole section to them. Finn didn’t want her to do that and find herself in trouble. He had lost all of the fight that he had left in him. There were some battles that you just couldn’t win and Finn knew that this was one of them.

Finn grabbed her arm and pulled her attention towards him. He didn’t even have to verbalize what he was thinking for Gina to get it. Finn needed to get out of there right now. Gina motioned for Erin and Ryanne, who was still silent and robot like to grab their things and head out. Gina and Erin held tightly to Finn’s arms and Ryanne followed as they made their way from the angry crowd. Finn was grateful that he couldn’t hear what those people were saying because even though they tried their best to hide it, he could feel Gina and Erin flinch at some of the comments.

They made their way down towards the family lounge to wait for the game to be over. Finn took a seat on one of the couches and pulled his knees up to his chest like he was a small child. The girls sat there without saying anything to Finn, figuring that it was probably best to just let him sit there and process everything that had happened until they could get Sean in here. At a time like this, that was exactly who Finn needed comforting him.

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The game ended in an exhilarating 5-4 victory over the Rangers. Their third period had nearly been a disaster, typical Flyers style, allowing four goals from the Rangers and narrowly managing to squeeze three dirty goals in themselves. It was a narrow victory at that, but two points was two points, and the Flyers definitely needed all the points they could get right now in the standings. Sean could feel the electricity surging through his veins. He finished the game with one goal and four assists, the comeback from the sophomore slump that Flyers fans had been desperately waiting for. He couldn’t keep the smile off of his face, even more so when he realized that the person he really wanted to share this with was in the same building as him. He was eager to get into that family lounge to see Finn, but his name was on the board for interviews.

Sean felt like he was moving at super speed. He finished up with the reporters quickly, giving them a few memorable sound bites among the regular generic responses that all of his team mates had been giving lately. By the time he was showered and getting dressed, most of the guys were ready to head out. He received more congratulatory comments and shoulder taps from them as they went. Max pestered him about joining him and some of the boys, who were headed to some trendy bar that Max had been hammering on about for the better part of the past two weeks. He denied him politely, telling Max that he already had plans with Finn. That seemed to get Max off his back, and allowed Sean to finish getting ready to go. 

If Sean expected to be met with an excited Finn, he was dead wrong. Instead he was met by the sight of a distraught Finn who had managed to curl himself into as small of a ball as possible on one of the couches. He could see both Gina and Erin’s concerned faces from where they stood with Zac and Matt respectively. Sean ignored them and rushed over to where Finn was. He dropped to his knees in front of Finn. He was shocked when he looked into Finn’s eyes and they looked hollow. Finn seemed to snap out of his trance when Sean ran a soothing hand down the side of his face. Sean was pretty sure that Finn was going to flinch away from him, but instead he flung himself forward into Sean’s arms. Sean held him against his chest and rubbed soothing shapes into his back trying to calm the other man. He pulled back and looked at Finn again.

“Do you want me to take you home?” Sean asked, and was rewarded with a nod from Finn. Sean carefully extracted himself from Finn and stood up before helping Finn up and wrapping his arm around his shoulders. Without a word to any of his team mates that were still hanging around, Sean leads Finn out the door and towards his car.

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The drive to Finn’s apartment was made in silence. Sean looked over at Finn as frequently as he could without crashing his car. Finn wasn’t trembling anymore, his demeanor could now be described as a stony indifference. This scared Sean more than seeing Finn curled in a ball again would. Sean knew what came after stony indifference, he had mastered it himself. Caused the maximum damage to those around him with his anger because of it. 

When they arrived at Finn’s apartment building, Sean parked the car without even asking Finn. He had barely made it out of his side of the car before Finn had gotten out of his side, slammed the door, and begun trudging towards the apartment lobby’s doors. Sean hurried to keep up with him. They were still silent as they took the stairs up to the sixth floor where Finn’s apartment was, Sean’s legs were crying out in protest at him for taking the stairs when there were perfectly good elevators available, but Finn was calling the shots right now.

Sean almost expected Finn to close the door in his face when they actually made it to his apartment, but was pleasantly surprised when he didn’t. Sean closed the door behind himself and took in the sight before him. Sean realized that he hadn’t ever been inside Finn’s apartment before. Usually when he came to pick Finn up, they met outside, most times with Sean staying in his car. The apartment was quintessentially Finn, flawlessly blending clean cut lines with rebellious touches. He let his eyes sweep across the living room. The walls were dark grey, there was a wall of windows to his left with doors that lead out to a balcony, dark hardwood covered the floors, and there was a sophisticated looking black leather couch positioned in the middle of the room. The apartment was much nicer than Sean’s and he had only seen the living room. He thought back to what he knew about Finn’s childhood. That he grew up in Chicago, in the Lincoln Park area, and that his grand parents’ house was more of an estate than an actual house. Sean hadn’t ever really thought about Finn’s finances. He had never had much reason to, but as he made his way past what could only be described as a sleek kitchen and deeper into the apartment to find Finn, he did. He thought about how much he still didn’t know about Finn. His thoughts were cut short when Sean reached a door and looked inside to see Finn sitting on the edge of his bed. Sean stood in the doorway, not sure if he should approach him or not.

Finn didn’t appear to be startled in the slightest when he looked up and saw Sean standing in his doorway. Sean took this as a sign that it was okay to move closer. He stood in front of Finn. “Finn,” he started hesitating slightly, “what happened tonight?”

“You know, I have never once cared that you don’t sign. That I have to read your lips to understand what you are saying. But I have to say that I have never experienced something so infuriating as what I am with having to read your lips right now.” Finn spat out with venom in his voice. Sean was taken a back. Clearly, he knew it was hard for Finn to read lips, he wouldn’t be trying to master sign language in his free time if he hadn’t. “What? You’re not going to say anything now?” Finn said louder this time. Sean could feel his anger begin to bubble, he knew rationally that he shouldn’t be mad at Finn. That something really bad must have happened tonight that caused this switch to flip in Finn. To cause this angry side that he had never seen before. But that was the rational part of Sean, the irrational part of Sean only interpretted the facts that someone was yelling at him for something that was not his fault.

“What do you want me to say, Finn?” Sean retorted angrily, “Or is that just it? You don’t want me to say anything!” Sean could practically see the fire burning brighter in Finn’s eyes with every word he said. 

“I want you to care enough about me to learn to speak without words! Dammit Sean!” Finn was all out screaming at this point. Unable to control his anger and frustration. He was standing now, hands balled into fists and looking up at Sean.

“You really think that I don’t care?” Sean said in complete and utter disbelief. Finn turned his head away from him. Sean stepped forward and grabbed Finn’s face so that he was forced to look at him. “Do you think that lowly of me Finn? That I don’t consider how hard it is for you. That I don’t think about it every single day?” Finn had an unreadable look on his face. Sean wasn’t sure what he was going to do. Finn pushed back from Sean suddenly and with a force Sean wasn’t exactly expecting from the smaller man. 

“You don’t understand what you are saying right now Sean. You have no idea what it all means.” Finn backed away even further and just shook his head. When he finally did look back at Sean, there were tears welling in the corners of his eyes. 

“I understand what it means to care for someone, Finn. I am capable of some basic human emotions.” Sean said condescendingly. He didn’t understand why Finn was treating him like a child right now. Like he had no idea what was even going on. Sean considered himself very self aware, dammit.

“That’s not what I mean.” Finn replied, dropping the sign language. His tone was exasperated. His fury was gone and was replaced by a broken Finn. Sean was about to reply, but was instead taken off guard by Finn surging towards him and pulling him down, in order to connect their lips. Finn’s lips moved against his slowly, but Sean felt as if he was paralyzed. Sean’s mind was starting to work overtime. He couldn’t ignore the spark that he felt now that Finn’s lips were on his own, but he wasn’t gay. This wasn’t happening. Finn pulled away slowly, sensing that Sean wasn’t about to start responding anytime soon. He looked carefully at Sean’s face, trying to read the younger man’s expression. He looked like someone had just kicked his puppy, or melted down his favorite action figure right in front of him just to make him sad. It crushed Finn.

Sean was overcome by feelings. His emotions were all over the place. Happiness from scoring his first goal in two months and winning the game, concern from when he saw Finn curled up in the lounge, and anger from their argument. And something else that he just couldn’t place. Sean had never been good with dealing with feelings. So he did something that he in contrast does very well.

He ran.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dialogue is represented the same as in the first chapter.
> 
> -Spoken English is represented as regular text in quotes.  
> -Spoken English and ASL is represented and italics in quotes.  
> -ASL is represented as just italics.

20,160 minutes. 336 hours. 14 days. Two weeks. That was how long it had been since Sean had ran out of Finn’s apartment. Ran away from the only person who completely and totally understood him, all because he was scared of the feelings that had erupted inside of him because of a kiss. 

The Flyers’ chartered plane was pitch black and silent. It was almost midnight and most of the guys had been trying to catch up on some much needed sleep. They had been on a road trip that had taken the team away from home for nearly two weeks. 

Sean had been using the down time on the trip a bit differently than he normally would have. He used it to overanalyze every part of his relationship with Finn. As the plane passed over one of the Carolinas, Sean let his mind drift back to what had happened after he left Finn’s apartment that night.

-2 weeks Ago-

Sean ran. He ran down the six flights of stairs, through the parking structure and right to his car. He all but jumped into the driver’s seat and got out of there as fast as he could. His mind was racing with a million different thoughts, and it was quite frankly a miracle that Sean managed to keep the vehicle on the road. He had no idea where he was even heading. It wasn’t until he found himself pulling into a parking spot in Rittenhouse Square that he realized what his destination was. He took a look at the high rise in front of him, unsure if he really wanted to go through with this. He managed to drag himself forward, and pushed the button on the intercom that reached the apartment in question. He waited a minute before he got a response.

“Ello. What the fuck time is it?” Claude’s voice was bleary and disoriented over the intercom system. Sean looked down at his watch and felt even worse about himself. It was well past midnight. Sean must have been driving longer than he had thought.

“Claude. It’s me, it’s Sean. Can you buzz me in please. I need help.” Sean croaked, and what the hell? Since when had he even been crying? Claude must have picked up on the fact that Sean was, because without hesitation, the buzzer sounded and Sean was making his way through the incredibly fancy looking lobby and towards the elevator. He pushed the button for Claude’s unit and waited as the elevator climbed thirty floors before stopping. The doors opened and Sean was greeted by Claude standing there in his plaid boxers and an old thread bare Phantoms t-shirt, with his ginger hair sticking up in ninety five different directions. Sean felt even worse now about showing up this late. 

“Shit Coots. Come on in.” Claude said, his eyes widening as he took in the appearance of his younger team mate.

“I’m sorry, it’s so late, I can just go.” Sean’s voice didn’t even sound like his own. He felt like he was five years old right now, still crying.

“Like hell you will.” Claude snorted, reaching toward Coots and pulling him into the apartment. He led Sean over to the couch. 

“Babe, who was it?” Ryanne said yawning as she made her way to them from the master bedroom. When she spotted Sean, she subconsciously pulled her robe tighter around her and moved to Claude’s side. Her face softened when she saw the state Sean was in, and she moved to sit next to him. “Claude, go put the kettle on to make Sean some tea, will you?” Claude nodded before moving off to the kitchen. She turned back to Sean. “What happened Sean?”

“He...he...and then we were fighting...and I don’t...and then we were” Sean babbled, tears falling freely again, sobs racking his body. Ryanne pulled Sean into a hug and let him grab onto her tightly. She rubbed his back soothingly, trying to calm him down enough for him to tell her what happened. Sean was clearly freaking out about something that had to do with Finn, that much was obvious. Ryanne also knew that it had to have something to do with what happened to Finn during the game. Claude returned with a mug of tea for Sean and set it on the coffee table before moving to sit on Sean’s other side. Sean’s sobs had dissipated, enough at least for Ryanne to have pulled away from him and coaxed him into drinking some of the tea to further calm him down. After a few more minutes, Ryanne tried to get him to explain.

“What happened with Finn after the game tonight, Sean?” She asked in a comforting voice. Sean took a deep breath before looking at her strangely. Ryanne wondered if Finn had told him that she hadn’t defended him like the other girls did. That she just sat there like an idiot while Finn was ripped apart. 

“We got in a fight,” Sean started, “he was just so mad. He was yelling at me about how I don’t care about him because, I don’t sign. But I’ve been trying really hard to learn. I swear, I have. It’s just been hard with our schedule. He didn’t let me explain.” Sean sucked in a deep breath, “I didn’t even know what was going on. What happened at the game Ry? You were with him.” Sean looked pleadingly at Ryanne. Now it was her turn to take a deep breath. She looked away from Sean trying to find the strength to tell him what had happened. He deserved to know. 

“When you scored your goal at the end of the first period, Finn got really really excited, and he was cheering for you, just like everyone else was.” She paused, “Well he started signing out of excitement. Some of the people in the section started noticing what he was doing with his hands, and then some of those people who had way to much to drink started mocking him. He fought back at first, throwing some insults their way, but he eventually shut down. Gina and Erin were trying their best to defend Finn, but the people wouldn’t stop yelling these horrible things.” She felt a tear roll down her cheek, “I couldn’t believe what they were saying. They accused him of throwing gang signs for crying out loud. And oh God, Sean! I just sat there. I didn’t try to defend him or comfort him. I just sat there like a dumb idiot, until he asked Gina to take him down to the lounge. I’m so sorry, Sean. I’m so sorry.” 

“You can’t do that to yourself, Ry. You didn’t hurt Finn. Those people in the stands did.” Claude interjected, “Sean knows that, right?” Sean was still processing what had happened at the game. Finn didn’t even tell him about that. Oh God, he had all but forced Finn to go to the game because he selfishly wanted him there, and then he wasn’t even there to protect and defend Finn when he was being verbally attacked by those people. It was all his fault.

“Claude is right. What happened to Finn isn’t your fault, it’s mine.” Sean replied, still in disbelief over the whole situation. 

“You couldn’t have stopped it either, Sean.” Ryanne said now that she had calmed herself down a little, “Did something else happen besides the fight?” Sean shifted uncomfortably. He knew subconsciously that Claude would support him because he was his friend and team mate, but Sean hadn’t really let himself think about it since it had happened.

“Well after he accused me of not caring. I told him he was wrong and that I do care, a lot actually. He said that I didn’t understand what I was saying. I thought I did, I really thought I did. But then he was kissing me.” Sean said the last part quietly, almost to himself. 

“He kissed you?” Ry asked, attempting somewhat successfully to keep the girly squeal of excitement in her head and not in her voice. Sean nodded in response, suddenly finding his shoes very interesting. “How do you feel about that?” 

“I mean. I don’t really know. I didn’t expect him to do that. We have never even talked about it before. I mean he knows about Laurence, but I never asked about who he was dating. It was always just the two of us, and I never thought about his sexuality because I liked hanging out with him.” Sean replied, “But I have never felt like that before. Felt like I was getting my own personal fireworks show.”

“So you liked it?” It was Claude who asked this time. Sean was once again a little concerned about talking about this subject matter with anyone. He was not supposed to be sitting in his captain’s apartment at one thirty in the morning having a gay crisis.

“I...I was so sure that I was straight. I mean it’s not like I’ve ever had feelings for another guy before. It’s just Finn. Because he is Finn.” Sean knew that his explanation was lame, but he couldn’t even find words to describe Finn when his head was clear, it was damn near impossible now.

“You know dude, there is such a thing as being bisexual. It’s not just a myth.” Claude said in an only slightly condescending tone. He got a light slap to his arm from Ryanne for that comment anyway.

“But, I don’t think I’m that either. I mean, I haven’t even thought about a girl in that way since I met Finn. I think that it’s just kind of him.” Sean replied, this earned him a knowing smile from Ryanne.

“What did Finn say after the kiss?” She asked, Sean’s face immediately dropped remembering his reaction to the kiss. He had done something so terrible. He had left without saying anything. Just left Finn standing there with no explanation.

“I don’t know what he said, because I just ran.” Sean mumbled. He felt like the biggest asshole in the entire world. He had just had a huge gay revelation, and he had left the guy he was gay for like the douche bag that he was. Finn must hate him right now. Here came another freak out.

“Hey. It’s going to be okay. You know how you feel now. So now all you need to do is tell Finn. He will understand. Everything will work out.” Ryanne soothed.

“What if he doesn’t? It’s not like there is another Finn Greyson out there just waiting for me to stumble across him. What if I’ve really messed this up?” Sean asked. Ryanne didn’t even get a chance to answer before Claude was stepping in.

“Are you kidding Coots? You obviously haven’t seen the way that he looks at you. How you both light up when you are around each other.” Claude said, “I think that maybe you two just need a little time to process what happened. Maybe text him in the morning, and let it resolve itself while we are on the road trip, eh?” Sean agreed, he knew that Claude was right. 

“I think that I should probably head out now, I should get home before Brayden calls the police on me.” Sean attempted in a joking tone. The three of them moved toward the door and Ryanne pulled him into a quick hug, reassuring him that everything was going to be okay before letting go and heading back to the bedroom. Sean waved awkwardly at Claude, but the other man just laughed and pulled him into a hug as well. When he let go Sean headed toward the elevator.

“Oh, and Coots,” Claude said drawing Sean’s attention back to him, “If you can play, you can play.” Claude just laughed at the middle finger that Sean shot him.

 

-Present Day-

 

After a long restless night Sean had finally managed to make his way back home, deciding that he couldn’t even stand thinking about what had happened to Finn. It was disgusting and disgraceful that his own fans would do that to Finn. To just attack someone because they were different was unacceptable. Sean had decided that night, that he was going to fix things with Finn, and ensure to the best of his ability that no Flyers fan would ever be caught dead mocking someone again, just because they couldn’t hear. He had contacted the Flyers Public Relations director the first thing the next morning to ask about how the Flyers could show their support for the deaf community. He relayed all of the events from the previous night that he had learned from Ryanne, and expressed his disgust at what had happened. Sean had spent the better part of three hours discussing some possible outreach options. Sean had made sure to ask if there was a way that he could invite students from PSD to a personal suite, like Danny did with the Briere Bunch. He was excited and pleased at how well the brainstorming and planning had went, he was ready to show PSD and Finn exactly what they meant to him.

That brought him back to the present, here sitting in the dark of the plane. Sean had been texting Finn at least once daily, trying to apologize like Claude had suggested. But no matter what he said in his texts, no matter how many times he apologized and begged for Finn to let him explain, he could not manage to coax Finn into replying. Sean missed him terribly. He hadn’t realized how much he had formed his life around Finn over the past three months, how he could hardly function without him. He still studied his ASL books religiously with Luke, who for his part had been very supportive of Sean’s newfound realization. He had also tried to throw himself into hockey even harder, but somehow Finn had infiltrated that part of his life as well.

The bright white numbers on Sean’s phone read 12:35 when Sean finally decided on a new plan of action. If Finn wouldn’t answer him over the phone, Sean would go to see him in person, that way he would at least have an opportunity to tell Finn how much he meant to him. He closed his eyes and let himself drift into sleep, like everyone around him.

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One of the many perks of spending so much time with Finn over the past three months, was that Sean knew what his exact schedule was everyday. Finn was one to hardly ever deviate from a set schedule, except of course when the change revolved around Sean. 

Sean decided to just head over to PSD after practice the day after he returned from his trip. He knew that on the days when he didn’t visit the school, Finn stayed until at least five o’ clock to make sure that everything was prepared and perfect for the next day’s lessons. Sean pulled up to the school and took deep breaths as he walked up to the door. He waved and gave a polite smile to the secretary as he passed. This school had practically become a second home for him, and the staff all knew him there. 

He felt a sense of vindication when he walked down the hallway and saw that the light was still on in Finn’s classroom. He paused to reach into his pocket and pull out his vibrating phone. It was a text from the PR director letting him know that everything was all set for the following night’s game. He couldn’t help but smile at that thought. Sean took one more deep breath and forced himself to continue walking down the hallway.

When Sean first entered the familiar classroom he stopped and smiled at the sight in front of him. Finn was standing precariously on a chair, trying to hang some of the students’ artwork up on the wall. He was clearly struggling to do so, which didn’t really surprise Sean due to the other man’s height. Sean could remember the stubborn look on Finn’s face when Sean brought it up for the first time, and his reply of ‘it’s not my fault that you are seven inches taller than me because you are a giant ginger freak’. He smiled fondly at that memory, then moved swiftly toward where Finn was. He took what Finn had in his hand from him and hung it up easily without the need for any lift. 

Finn flew backwards, lacking grace as he landed on his butt, from the sudden shock of having an unannounced presence near him. Sean’s face immediately changed to show concern, he knew better than to sneak up on him. Finn on the other hand, looked as if he had just seen a ghost. He stood up and held his hands out defensively.

“Sean. I would really like it if you would leave.” Finn sounded very un-Finn like. There was still the polite and polished style that was always present, but he also sounded broken. “If I wanted to talk to you, I would have returned one of the many texts that you sent me over the past two weeks.” Finn moved to turn away from Sean. Most likely to busy himself with a trivial task until Sean had left the room. His plan was disrupted when Sean tapped his shoulder, Finn turned around frustrated, ready to really let Sean have it.

Please let me explain Sean signed. Finn stopped in his place. A million different thoughts running through his mind as he tried to process what he had just seen in front of him. He was shocked that Sean had just signed to him. He had never even given the slightest indication that he wanted to learn sign language.

“Did you just sign?” Finn said befuddled. He clearly must have beeen hallucinating. This was what happened when he went two weeks without coffee apparently, he starts to imagine things, people.

Yes. Finn, I am so sorry for running out on you. That wasn’t fair, you didn’t deserve that. You deserved an explanation. Sean signed trying to get his words across. Finn had just gotten over the initial shock of Sean signing, and here he was apologizing using sign language.

When did you learn to sign? Finn signed, cutting him off. He allowed himself to look at Sean now, he looked the same as he had always looked and very different at the same time. His hair had been trimmed, it no longer ran all the way down Sean’s neck, but now was just long enough for the front strands to be tucked behind Sean’s ears. His lean body looked good, just like it always did. He was wearing dark wash jeans which made his butt look great, even though Finn was totally not looking at Sean’s butt, and a tight black long sleeve t-shirt on, that’s sleeves were pushed up to his elbows, no jacket despite the fact that the Philadelphia weather didn’t get the memo that it was spring and it was still freezing outside. Finn pulled out of his haze in time to catch Sean’s reply.

I’ve been trying to learn for about two months. I felt really bad that you always had to read my lips. I knew that it was difficult for you, and I didn’t want talking to me to be difficult for you. Sean blushed slightly as he finished.

“But, two weeks ago, I yelled at you for not knowing how to sign. I said some really horrible things to you and you had been learning sign language all along?” Finn asked in disbelief.

I wanted to tell you so badly. Tell you that I was trying for you, for us. But I did not think that you would listen to me. You were so mad at me. Sean replied. The look on his face conveyed how hurt he still was over that night. 

“Us?” Finn replied locking eyes with Sean’s, waiting for the other man to explain. Sean blushed before beginning to explain.

I was not lying that night when I said that I cared. At the time I did not realize exactly how much I cared. That took some hard thinking. Sean replied, Finn quirked his eyebrow at him from behind his thick glasses so Sean continued, I am attracted to you. Very attracted to you actually. I tried to ignore it, but it’s been there from the very first day that I met you. Finn moved to interrupt, but Sean waved him off and carried on, I am so sorry that I ran away from you. I had so many feelings that I did not know how to deal with. I was a coward for running when I should have just been honest with myself and faced my feelings for you head on. Sean pauses briefly trying to think of the signs he wants to use next, I was an idiot, and if you never forgive me I will completely understand, but I can’t live without you Finn, these past two weeks have been Hell for me. I will never be able to live with myself for hurting you the way that I did. More than just leaving that night, but for what my fans did to you. That was so wrong. I wish you would have told me about it. Sean was rambling now, it was a bad habit of his when he got nervous.

Finn stopped Sean’s rambling by pulling Sean’s body toward his own, then he pushed up on his tip toes and kissed Sean. The spark and excitement was still present in this kiss like it was the first time, only now Sean could actually identify what the feeling was. Unlike last time however, Sean didn’t pull away or run like a child. Instead, he let himself react and melt into the kiss. He felt as if every inch of his skin was on fire. The kiss didn’t last long enough for his liking. When Sean looked into Finn’s dark eyes, he could tell that Finn just felt the same thing that he did. He knew that eventually they were going to have to sit down and have an actual conversation about this, but right now all Sean wanted was to have his lips back on Finn’s. So that’s what he did. He leaned down and captured Finn’s lips with his own. Finn responded immediately, however when Sean tried to deepen the kiss like he so desperately wanted to, Finn laughed and gently pushed him away.

“As much as I really want to keep doing what we are doing, and I do want to,” Finn said, “I would really rather not get fired for fucking a Flyers player in my classroom where anyone can walk in and see us.” Sean’s breath got visibly stuck in his throat when he heard those words come out of Finn’s mouth. Finn’s eyes widened when he seemed to realize what he had just said to Sean. Finn’s brain automatically tried to think of ways to back track. He didn’t want to scare Sean off, he had just made a huge confession to him for crying out loud, they didn’t need to go from zero to sixty so quickly. “I was just joking around. I mean we shouldn’t do anything in this room ever because that is unprofessional on my part. Plus, you are such a high profile person and it would be bad. Very, very bad.” Sean was still staring at him with an unreadable expression on his face. It was unnerving to say the least. “Jesus, can you say something Sean?” Finn pleaded, this seemed to snap Sean out of the inner workings of his head and he looked straight at Finn as he signed one word.

Yes. It only took Finn a minute to realize what Sean meant by that. Sean wanted him, all of him. Sean’s eyes were looking for approval. Finn grabbed Sean’s hand and began dragging him around the room to collect his things so they could get out of there as soon as humanly possible. Finn wasn’t kidding about not wanting to mess around with Sean in the classroom, for one he never really got all of those hot teacher fantasies, they mainly just creeped him out, and two he was pretty sure that if he didn’t get Sean somewhere more appropriate soon he was going to violate what he said and just rip Sean’s clothes off right there.

Sean pressed himself against Finn’s back while Finn was attempting, quite unsuccessfully now due to the lean muscular hockey player pushing into him from behind, to slip his laptop into its case. After four flubbed attempts, Sean reached around Finn himself and easily slipped the device into the bag and zipped it up securely. Sean begrudgingly let go of Finn long enough for them to walk quickly from the classroom to Sean’s car in the parking lot. All bets were off once they were in the car. Sean immediately reached across the console to take hold of Finn’s hand, relishing in the contact.

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By the time they had managed to reach Finn’s apartment complex, Sean had both of his hands gripping the steering wheel so tightly that his knuckles were white. Sometime in between the mad rush to get out of the school and back to a more suitable venue, the gravity of what exactly they were about to do hit him. 

“Sean. Sean look at me.” Finn nearly begged. Sean turned to look at him, and Finn could see the fear in his eyes. “Hey. We don’t have to do anything. If you’re not ready then we wait.” Finn assured, trying to comfort Sean. This was a big deal, a huge deal really. He didn’t want to push Sean into anything he wasn’t comfortable with. Kissing was one thing, sex was so much more. 

Sean released his grip on the steering wheel only to lean over the console and grip Finn’s coat instead. He pulled the other man closer to him and pressed their lips together. It wasn’t the best angle and it was awkward, but it was exactly what Sean needed. Without a word, he got out of the car and motioned for Finn to follow him. Finn was a little dumb struck at what had just happened, but he scrambled to get out of the car and made his way to catch up with Sean.

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Once they actually managed to make it up to Finn’s apartment, after some rather heavy sexual tension in the elevator as they shared it with an elderly couple who could have probably passed as Sean’s great grandparents, Sean’s newfound confidence sparked. Finn had barely shut the door before Sean was pushing him up against it. Their lips met and it quickly became a battle for dominance, neither man wanting to relinquish full control. After a few minutes, Finn gave in and let Sean take the lead, and was quickly rewarded when Sean groaned and slipped his tongue into Finn’s mouth. Sean took his time deepening the kiss until they were both left breathless. Finn reluctantly pulled away. They both gasped slightly before Finn took Sean by surprise and flipped them around so he was the one pinning Sean to the door. And damn, that made Sean really hot in a way he didn’t expect, he gasped at the realization. Finn took full advantage and slipped his tongue past Sean’s parted lips. Sean could feel his pants tightening in a way that was familiar and welcome, he ground into Finn’s stomach, blushing furiously when he realized what he had just done. Finn pulled away and saw Sean’s blush. He smirked before taking Sean’s hand and leading him towards his bedroom.

Any poor memories of the events that occurred in this room just two week ago, were long forgotten now, replaced only by pure lust. Finn pushed Sean into a sitting position on the bed before moving between the younger man’s legs. He gently grabbed Sean’s face, a stark contrast to the way he was manhandling him in his doorway just minutes before. If Finn was expecting to be met by some indication that Sean wanted to stop or was scared he was dead wrong. When their eyes met, Finn was surprised to see that Sean’s eyes had grown dark and dilated with lust. That was all the reassurance that Finn needed to see that Sean had gotten over his insecurities.

Things only escalated from there. Finn pushed Sean back further on the bed and straddled his hips. He rolled his hips and they both groaned at the added friction from their pants as they rubbed against each other. Finn leaned down and pulled Sean into a heated kiss as he continued to grind onto him. The kiss was interrupted when Sean arched up and let his head fall back on the pillow, mouth agape allowing his moans to flow freely. He moved his hands to Finn’s hips and held him in place, Finn whined a little at the loss of friction, but stopped to pay attention when Sean started moving his hands.

Too many clothes. Need to get rid of them. Sean signed a little frantically, Finn would have laughed if he wasn’t so turned on by the look on the other man’s face. He moved quickly and managed to pull Sean’s tight black shirt over his head with minimal effort and sat back to admire what was under it. His build was athletic and muscular without being overkill, Finn appreciated this. He ran his hands down Sean’s lean chest, he could feel the muscles jump as his hands moved. He let his hands skim over the waistband to Sean’s jeans before unbuttoning them. Sean struggled slightly to wiggle them over his hips and Finn helped him to pull them the rest of the way off. Finn sat back and looked at the man spread out and panting in front of him. Sean’s ginger hair was spread out wildly across the pillow. Finn let his eyes drift down past the blush that was spreading across Sean’s chest and down past his abs to the trail of hair leading into his boxers that was that same ginger color. Finn’s eyes reached the huge bulge tenting in Sean’s black boxer briefs and he couldn’t help himself from reaching forward and applying a light amount of pressure. Sean gasped again, arching into it. Somewhere in his mind there was a voice attempting to remind him that writhing around and being so easy to turn on like a ten dollar hooker should probably be embarrassing, but this was Finn who was causing it and Sean couldn’t stop himself even if he wanted to, which he really really didn’t want to, like ever.

Finn felt a grip on his wrist and looked up to see Sean looking at him with a mischievous glint in his eyes. I think that you need to be more naked. Now it was Finn who was moaning. Sean slid his hands up Finn’s thighs and pulled the mint green sweater that he was wearing up with his hands and over Finn’s head. He fumbled with the silk bow tie though, Finn laughed slightly before reaching up and untying the knot, he slid it off from around his neck and threw it somewhere in the room to join the collection of Sean’s clothes already on the floor. Sean liked the way that Finn dressed any other day, but right now there were just too many buttons facing him. He momentarily considered just pulling at the shirt until the buttons gave out and popped open, but he had a feeling that Finn would probably not be too happy with him doing that. So he painstakingly started to unbutton the shirt while Finn busied himself with moving his lips to Sean’s neck. This did nothing to help Sean stay focused on the task at hand. He finally managed to unfasten the last button and he slid the material off of Finn’s surprisingly muscular shoulders, he groaned slightly when he is met by the sight of yet another shirt. God dammit, who needed all of those shirts? Sean ripped the t- shirt off with far less care then the other items of clothing and let his eyes reap the benefits of getting Finn shirtless. The tattoos that he had seen at Danny’s that night paled in comparison to the full image of the ink splashed artfully across the large expanses of Finn’s chest and arms. Sean flipped them over and began to skim his hands over the different swirls of color on his way down to Finn’s pants. He semi-gracefully unfastened Finn’s belt before pulling it out of the loops and letting it drop to the floor. He unbuttoned Finn’s trousers and lifted his hips so that Finn could slide out of them. If shirtless Finn was amazing, Finn in nothing but thin cotton boxer briefs was like discovering the meaning of life. Sean was still gawking at the body in front of him when he realized that he really didn’t have any idea what move to make next. With girls, there was always a naturally excepted series of events that occurred. But here with Finn, Sean was drawing a blank. Luckily for him, Finn didn’t seem to be having the same problem right now.

“What do you want Sean?” Finn asked cautiously. He was lying underneath a seemingly frozen Sean on the bed. He ground his hips up into Sean and that at least elicited a groan from the younger man. Finn was still concerned. He reached a hand up to cradle Sean’s jaw and that seems to snap him out of whatever thought he was in because he looked down at Finn ashamed. “What do you want?” Sean attempted to answer.

“I want....uhm....” Sean tried to rack his brain for the sign he was thinking of. He had spent a lot less time looking up sex related words in sign language than he apparently should have. He spent so much time focusing on the grammar since it was completely different than spoken English. At that point, he wasn’t even sure he could get his point across in that spoken English. He was going to have to revert back to spoken speech, even though he didn’t want to do that to Finn. He grabbed Finn’s face so that he had no choice but to look directly at Sean. “I want you to fuck me.” Plain and simple, as if it was the most simple request in the entire world. Finn laughed a little at Sean’s bluntness before taking Sean’s hands and manipulating them into the signs. Sean nodded and leaned down for another kiss. This position made it very easy for Finn to flip them over. He could feel the moan moving up Sean’s neck when he latched his mouth there. Finn took his time. He kissed his way down Sean’s neck, biting lightly when he reached his pulse point, Sean gasped at the sensation. Finn smirked at that before continuing to move down Sean’s body. He stopped to swirl his tongue around one of Sean’s nipples and blew on it before he moved to the other one. Sean squirmed underneath Finn, writhing in pleasure, no one had ever paid much attention to his nipples before but right now every single movement of Finn’s mouth and hands on them was going straight to his dick. Finn pulled away only to begin running kisses down Sean’s stomach and that was when Sean really started gasping and moaning. Finn ran his hands over the waistline of Sean’s boxer briefs again, looking up to meet Sean’s eyes before asking.

“This okay?” Sean nodded frantically in response and Finn slipped his hands into the briefs again, this time pulling them down Sean’s legs, allowing Sean’s dick to be released from its confines and spring up against his stomach. Finn grabbed it with a firm grip, and looked up into Sean’s eyes as he slid his mouth around just the tip at first, sucking gently before sliding down the shaft and taking more into his mouth, Sean almost lost it right then and there, and shit would that have been embarrassing, but Finn’s mouth was like heaven. Finn ran his tongue up the length of his dick and paid special attention to the ridge right under the head, Sean saw stars. This wasn’t his first blow job, although none of the previous ones have ever come even close to this one. Sean rocked his hips off the bed into the wet cavern of Finn’s mouth after Finn swiped his tongue in a particularly magical way. Finn gagged a little before pulling off of Sean and shooting him a playful glare. Sean whined at the loss of contact and shot Finn his own glare. “Sean. How are we going to do this?”

“I want you inside of me.” Sean responded without even thinking. He wasn’t even sure how his mind was connecting to English right now let alone ASL, but he somehow managed. Finn laughed slightly at the desperate look on Sean’s face, but he persisted.

“I know that, but I want to make sure that you are absolutely positive. Are you sure?” Sean nodded but Finn shook his head. “You have to say it out loud Sean.” Finn wanted to make sure that they were on the same page here, he didn’t want to move on without Sean’s full consent.

“Yes Finn, I want this.” Sean responded stubbornly reaching up to wrap his hand around the back of Finn’s neck and pulled him down for another heated kiss. Finn gave in and responded to the kiss, allowing Sean to control it, but when he felt the younger man’s arousal rub against his hip bone, he pulled away with a groan from the loss of contact. He reached over the side of the bed to open his nightstand drawer, Sean automatically placed his hands on Finn’s hips to keep him steady as he did this. Sean’s eyes widened a little bit when he saw that Finn had grabbed a small bottle of lube and a condom from the drawer. Finn saw the change in demeanor and paused. Sean suddenly looked much younger than he did before.

“Have you ever done this before?” Finn asked, setting the items on the bed and turning his full attention back to him. He knew that Sean wasn’t a virgin in the traditional sense, but that didn’t mean that he had a great deal of experience.

“I...um...I’ve never...not with another guy...” Sean stuttered out a little bit ashamed. It was clear from Finn’s stash of lube and condoms, that he definitely did have more experience than Sean. Finn tilted Sean’s head up so that he was looking him in the eyes, and gave him an understanding smile.

“We don’t have to do this if you’re not ready.” Sean was vehemently shaking his head at Finn now, Finn let his hand drop from Sean’s face and sighed, “Or if you are dead set on doing this tonight, maybe it would be better if you top...” Finn was cut off when Sean pushed his shoulder to get his attention.

“I don’t care about what would be ‘better’. I want you Finn, I want you now, and for the love of God, I want you inside of me. Which I think I’ve made pretty clear.” Finn still looked a little unsure, Sean reached over and grabbed the condom and lube and pressed them into Finn’s hands. “Please.”

“Hands and knees.” Finn said quickly, Sean’s words having had a powerful impact on him. He played the responsible part and now he really really wanted to get to the good part. But Sean was looking at him stubbornly and still lying on his back. “Sean, it will hurt less if you get on your hands and knees.”

“I don’t care. I want to see you.” Finn sighed at Sean’s response, and felt momentarily like he was battling with one of his kindergarteners. But this was Sean, and Sean was nothing if not persistent when he wanted to be. And good God did he look perfect lying on his back, just waiting for Finn to come and get him. Finn stood up to slip his boxer briefs off of his hips with his back to Sean. 

“Spread your legs.” Finn threw over his shoulder. He kicked the last remaining article of clothing off and turned back around. Finn’s eyes grew wide and he gasped when he took in the sight in front of him. Sean was still on his back but his legs were spread wide and Finn could see Sean’s puckered pink hole waiting for him.

Sean had much the same reaction when he saw Finn turn around. His eyes were automatically drawn downward past Finn’s structured abs and directly to Finn’s dick. He licked his lips at the sight. It was not as long as Sean’s own, although it was not short by any means, but it was thick. Sean had the momentary panic attack, of how the hell is that going to fit in my ass. The more he thought about it, the more he got worked up. Sean was damn near a full on panic attack now. He could feel his chest tightening and felt like the walls were closing in on him. He had never even really thought about the logistics of sex with Finn. He just wanted it, bad, like as soon as possible. Now he was getting what he wanted, like seriously, because holy shit this was fast. He had literally just told Finn how he felt. Damn, it wasn’t even that long ago that he was finally able to internalize what his feelings for Finn actually meant. That he was gay for Finn. It was all happening very fast. Sean wasn’t sure how he was supposed to handle this. He was still freaking out a little when he managed to look up, but he calmed down almost immediately when he saw that there was more than just lust in Finn’s eyes. Finn was looking at him concerned. Like the only thing that he wanted in the entire world was Sean, but not just Sean’s body. He wanted Sean for all of him. That was a really new sensation for Sean. The people in his life usually wanted him for his hockey playing skills or his fame, but Finn just wanted him. He knew that Finn would never do anything to hurt him. He trusted him with every thing he had in him. He held out his hand towards Finn and pulled him close when he grasped it. Finn climbed back on the bed and settled in between Sean’s spread out thighs. He leaned forward and captured Sean’s lips with his own. They broke apart and both groaned when Finn’s dick slid across Sean’s hole. 

“Alright. Are you ready? Everything will be okay, I will talk you through it, and we can stop whenever you need to. Okay? You just tell me to stop and I will.” Finn said this with such genuine concern that Sean couldn’t help but smile.

“I will.” Finn smiled back at Sean before grabbing the lube from where he had left it on the bed. He popped the cap on the bottle, and the sound sent a shiver down Sean’s spine. Finn meticulously coated three of his fingers. He looked up at Sean, who gave him a nod, and he gently rubbed one of his lubricated fingers against Sean’s hole. Sean gasped at the contact. “Put it in.” Finn obeyed to the command and pushed the first finger into Sean. He was met by an incredible amount of resistance. Sean winced and clinched at the sensation. It burned, and it felt really uncomfortable.

“Sean, you need to relax.” Finn told him calmly, “It won’t hurt as bad if you do.” Finn stroked Sean’s side lightly trying to help him relax. Sean’s face looked like he was concentrating on something very hard. Slowly but surely, Finn felt Sean loosen up enough for him to push his finger in all the way. He slowly pulled it out almost all the way, before pushing it back in a little more quickly. He repeated the action until Sean started moving down to meet his thrusts. “Ready for another one?” Sean nodded in response. Finn slipped the first finger out and slid back in with two. Once again, he was met with a little resistance, but he moved his fingers in a scissoring motion, stretching Sean out. Sean was just getting used to the feeling when he felt Finn crook his fingers and hit something that had Sean all but levitating off the bed. He fisted the sheets in his hands and arched off the bed. He started to really thrust down into Finn’s movements now. Finn continued his movements until Sean gripped his wrist pulling his attention to the younger man.

“If you don’t stop that, we will never make it to actually having sex.” Finn smirked before pushing into Sean’s prostate one more time leaving Sean to cry out in pleasure. He pulled his fingers out before thrusting three in all together. Sean could feel the stretch, but he welcomed it now. He knew that after the pain came so much pleasure. He rocked down onto Finn’s fingers, dictating the rhythm. Sean’s actions were so hot that Finn could hardly handle it. He pulled his fingers out without much finesse. Sean whined at the loss, but then moaned loudly when he realized what was coming next.

Finn wiped his hand on the sheets before tearing the condom wrapper open with his teeth. Sean moaned again when he heard the familiar sound. He wanted it, he wanted it so bad. Sean didn’t care if he was acting like a cheap hooker now, he had never felt so alive in his entire life. Sean watched as Finn rolled the condom down his length, then took special care in slicking it up with lube. He positioned himself back over Sean and looked to him for permission to continue. Sean bit his bottom lip between his teeth and nodded. Apparently this response was enough for Finn this time because he reached a hand down to line himself up with Sean’s hole.

“You sure that you’re ready baby?” Finn asked, and it was the baby that really got to Sean, he never would have anticipated that being called that would be such a turn on, but apparently anything that Finn did turned him on.

“God. Yes, Finn, Fuck!” Sean yelled, forgetting about signing at this point, he could barely handle speaking anymore. The next thing Sean knew, he was feeling the blunt pressure of Finn’s dick on his slick hole. Finn leaned down to kiss Sean, and then he was pushing in. Sean screwed his eyes shut. Three fingers definitely do not equal a dick, especially not one as thick as Finn’s. Finn pushed in incredibly slowly, using every single ounce of restraint that he had in his body to not just slam into Sean like he wanted to.

“Hey, you alright?” Finn asked Sean concerned. He knew that Sean was a tough guy. Hell, he was missing his four front teeth, of course he could handle pain. But Finn also knew that the pain Sean was experiencing right now was unlike anything else he ever had felt before. Sean’s eyes were still closed, his mouth a little agape.

“Yeah,” Sean assured opening his eyes, “Just give me a minute.” Finn nodded. Sean took the time to think about the feeling, trying to relax. He had never felt so full in his entire life. He realized with a pulse of pleasure that he really enjoyed this feeling, and he wanted to feel it over and over again. He spread his legs out further and pulled Finn down for another kiss. Finn began to slowly pull out leaving just the tip in before pushing back in slowly.

“Dammit Sean,” Finn croaked out, “You feel so good baby, you’re so tight.” This left Sean moaning. He wrapped his legs around Finn’s waist urging him to speed it up. Finn complied, he began thrusting in a harder and faster rhythm. Their lips met again for another heated kiss, all teeth and tongue, that was about all the coordination either of them could handle. Finn unhooked one of Sean’s legs from around his waist and brought it up so that it was against Sean’s chest allowing him to thrust deeper, searching for that place that would send Sean tumbling over the edge. Finn could feel the burn in his lower abdomen, could feel his urgency rising. He pounded harder and faster and was rewarded by Sean screaming out and breaking their kiss to pant and moan. A chorus of fucks falling from his pink lips. Bingo, Finn had found it and took deep pleasure in knowing that he was the one who managed to reduce Sean Couturier to a writhing mess. 

Finn knew that he wasn’t going to last much longer. He had a feeling that Sean was at about the same place. He reached a hand down and wrapped it tightly around Sean’s dick, he allowed his thumb to run across the head collecting the pre come and smearing it down, using it as lube. He flicked his wrist a few times and felt Sean clinching around him. Sean was reduced to silent sobs of pleasure as his orgasm hit him. He came harder than he ever had in his entire life all over his and Finn’s chests. The warm feeling of Sean’s cum in between them and the pure blissed out look on Sean’s face sent Finn tumbling hard over the edge as well. He released himself inside of Sean and let his head fall on the other man’s shoulder. Sean was boneless underneath him. Finn pulled out slowly, careful not to hurt Sean more than the unavoidable amount. Sean whined first at the loss, he felt empty. He wished that Finn could have just stayed inside him and let him feel whole. He was distracted enough that he didn’t realize that Finn had gotten off the bed until he was hit by a cold draft across his sensitive front. He whined again, but waited patiently for Finn to come back from disposing the condom in the bathroom.

Finn came back a minute later with a warm wet washcloth to wipe off Sean’s chest, having already cleaned himself up while in the bathroom. He took special care when he wiped around Sean’s now incredibly sensitive hole and dick. He threw the washcloth into the hamper, before returning to bed and pressing a sweet kiss to Sean’s cheek. Sean turned to look at him and met him with a small smile on his swollen lips, Finn couldn’t help himself, he leaned in and pressed his own swollen lips to Sean’s. They settled in, tangled together in a pile of languid limbs. They continued to kiss lazily for a little while before Sean yawned. They curled into one another and fell asleep quickly.

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Sean woke up to a warm body next to him for the first time in he couldn’t even remember how long. It was nice and comforting. Sean let himself take a moment to soak in the sheer glory of what had happened the night before. It was amazing, Finn was amazing. Sean moved around and felt a dull ache in his body. Sean wiggled his butt around experimentally. It was a little sore, which he had expected, although he should have also considered that he had to be able to skate, whether or not he was still basking in the post-coital glow or some shit like that. After a few more wiggles, Sean decided that the soreness he was feeling was definitely worth it.

Sean looked over at Finn, he was sprawled out on the bed with Sean’s arm still draped over his abdomen, and his left arm resting under Sean’s cheek. His hair was in no less than a million different directions, and Sean couldn’t help but notice how hot he looked with the sheet barely reaching high enough on his body to cover his happy trail. This left the large expanse of his chest and his right arm out in the open. Sean took in all of the intricate designs again. He didn’t think that he would ever get tired of looking at Finn’s tattoos. From the first time he saw them all those weeks ago, they fascinated Sean. He took his fingertip and lightly began to trace some of the visible tattoos, Sean was itching to look at the ones covering his back that he had only caught a glimpse of last night, but there was time for those later. One by one Sean traced the tattoos. He moved his hand to one tattoo that caught his eye more so than the others. This one was different. Most of Finn’s tattoos looked like old school tattoos, this one was something Sean had never seen before. Running down Finn’s right ribcage, were ASL symbols outlined in great detail with black ink. Sean studied each of the symbols and read, E-Q-U-A-L-I-T-Y. A red line that looked like it belonged on a heart monitor stood out as the background for the piece. Sean thought about it for a minute and wondered whether or not Finn’s tattoo referred to the desire for equality of the hearing impaired, or equality for same sex couples. Was that what they were now? God, Sean hoped so, he didn’t want to do anything for the rest of his life besides lying intertwined with Finn in bed, and maybe doing a few other things in the bed too. Sean was still moving his fingers repeatedly over the tattoo on Finn’s ribcage when he heard Finn giggle, alerting him that the other man was awake.

Sean leaned over and pecked Finn on the lips. When he pulled away Finn was smiling at him. Sean couldn’t help but return it. This moment right here was perfect. He buried his head in Finn’s neck. Finn raked his fingers through Sean’s hair, just enjoying being wrapped up in one another. Finn ran his hand down Sean’s back and grimaced when his hand found some remaining dried lube.

“We should get up and shower.” Finn said absently. He ccould feel Sean’s groan from where his mouth was placed on his collar bone. “We can have some fun in the shower.” Finn sing-songed. That caught Sean’s attention and he sprung up. Finn looked up at the goofy look on his face and laughed. Finn moved out of the bed and came around to give Sean a hug. “How you feeling today?” Sean pulled back to answer.

Good. I feel amazing. Finn shot him a look at that. Okay, I’m a tiny bit sore but I like it because it reminds me all about what we did last night. He punctuated his response by capturing Finn’s lips in another kiss, at this rate they wouldn’t even make it to the shower before going at it again. Finn pulled away first and made his way towards the bathroom but Sean gripped his wrist gaining his attention. 

I need to grab something out of my car. Sean signed, You get started without me and I’ll be right back. Finn watched as Sean slipped his boxer briefs and jeans on, only sighing slightly when his glorious skin got covered up. He slipped Finn’s under shirt from the night before over his head too. He felt around for his keys and found them in his right pocket. He moved over to Finn, turning him so that his back was flush against Sean’s front, he ran a teasing hand down Finn’s stomach and gave his now very interested dick a few strokes causing Finn to moan out and drop his head back on Sean’s shoulder. Sean kissed the exposed skin of Finn’s neck before removing his hand from his dick and moving through the bedroom towards the door. He could hear Finn’s frustrated call of “Tease!” just before he stepped out the door.

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Sean raced down the flights of stairs, the elevator was taking way too long for his liking, and down to the parking garage. He reached his car and opened up the back. He retrieved the black bag with a special surprise for Finn that he was hoping he would need and fished around in a gym bag to see if he at least had any clean underwear. His had some questionable fluids on them and he did not want to have to answer those questions in the locker room, he was pretty sure that he was already going to be attacked with questions by Claude, Brayden, and Luke as it was. He managed to find a clean pair of boxers, socks, and a Flyers hoodie. He grabbed his finds and shut the back of his car, locking it before he made his way back up to Finn’s apartment. The door was unlocked just as Sean had left it and he let himself in. Before he went to meet Finn in the shower, he placed Finn’s surprise where it would be easily spotted and stripped off his clothes. 

As he entered the bathroom he was met by the sight of a slicked up and wet Finn in the shower, and if he wasn’t already aroused at the prospect of some wet and wild shower fun with Finn before, his dick was now standing at full attention. Finn turned and saw Sean staring at him and smirked, he ran his hand down his chest and started stroking his dick. Sean’s mouth dropped open, the sight in front of him was turning him on even more than he thought was possible and then Finn did something that Sean wasn’t expecting.

“Oh Sean,” he moaned as if it was Sean’s hands working his swollen dick and that was all it took, Sean made it over to the shower as fast as he could and opened the door to join Finn. Before the other man could say anything Sean sunk to his knees in front of him, and oh yeah this was going to be the best shower ever.

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When they finally made it out of the shower, Sean looked at the clock and realized that it was nine o’ clock and he was running a little bit late. He turned to talk to Finn. 

“I have morning skate in an hour.” Finn looked a little disappointed that their time together was going to be cut short. Sean leaned forward and gave him a quick peck, before moving over to the bed to grab his boxers. Finn didn’t want to let Sean go, but he enjoyed the view nonetheless when Sean bent over to slip his boxers over his feet and slide them on. Finn left his towel on and stripped the sheets off his bed while Sean finished getting dressed. He had every intention of plopping back into bed and he was not doing that on sheets that had jizz and lube on them. He got the sheets out of the closet and a now fully dressed Sean helped him make the bed. Finn slipped his towel off giving Sean a little peep show and slid into his freshly made bed, he made his bed and now he fully intended to lie in it. Sean sat down on the edge of the bed facing him, so Finn turned toward him as well.

“I was thinking. Would you come to the game tonight?” Sean asked hopefully and Finn immediately tensed and frowned, thinking about what had happened the last time that he went to watch Sean play at the Wells Fargo Center.

“I don’t know Sean. It didn’t end well for me last time.” Finn looked down. Sean crawled across the bed so that he could reach out and grab Finn’s hand and held it in between his own. He stroked his thumbs over Finn’s hands in a comforting gesture and Finn looked up to meet Sean’s concerned stare. Sean pulled one hand away to answer.

“I don’t know if it will make you feel better, but Ryanne and Erin will be there with you the whole entire time.” Sean said, “Plus I have a huge surprise for you tonight.” Sean smiled brightly at Finn and it was infectious. Finn couldn’t help but be reassured by that smile and excited by the prospect of a surprise from Sean waiting for him.

“Okay. You really want me to go and I will go.” Finn replied, this only made Sean smile even wider and lean in to get one more kiss from Finn before he had to go. Finn deepened it a little, and now Sean was really in danger of being late. He pulled away breathless and moved away from Finn heading for the door. He turned around once more.

“The girls are going to come pick you up tonight because I have some finishing touches that I need to put on your surprise.” Sean grinned cheekily reminding Finn of his secret, “They will be here at six.” Finn nodded and waved before Sean turned and left. Finn collapsed back on the bed, giddy about what the coming night would hold for him.

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Finn laid in bed for about five minutes before he realized that his nerves were not going to let him fall back asleep. He threw a pair of clean boxer briefs on and decided to attempt to be productive. He tried to keep himself busy by grading papers, typing his lesson plans, and cleaning his entire apartment. By noon he was about ready to jump out of his skin. It was not possible, Sean hadn’t even been gone that long. Two hours and forty five minutes, but who was counting? 

Finn’s nervous energy was starting to make him bounce off the walls. He threw on a pair of sweatpants and a sweatshirt and headed out to run off whatever feelings he was having right now. He ran for as long as his body would let him, and then he ran back to his apartment, hoping the exhaustion would counteract his nerves before the game. By the time he got back to his apartment and showered it was almost an acceptable time to get ready to go. After throwing on a nice pair of jeans and a white long sleeve thermal tee, he moved to fish his Couturier shirt out of his dresser, but was distracted when he saw an orange article of clothing peeking out from his extremely obsessive compulsively organized closet. That was definitely not there the day before. He moved closer to examine the offending garment. Much to his surprise, upon closer inspection he found that it was a bright orange Flyers home jersey. When he flipped the fabric over in his hands, a smile spread across his face, there on the back on the white name plate in bold black letters read ‘Couturier’ and the glorious number fourteen stood out proudly under it. As Finn let a smile cross his face he thought that just maybe, this night would go alright.

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Finn had just slipped the jersey over his head when the lights in the apartment started to flash signaling that someone was at the door for him. He grabbed his wallet and keys and went to greet the girls at the door. Erin almost immediately tackled him in a hug, which he happily returned. When he pulled away from her, Ryanne shot him a shy wave, but Finn ignored it and pulled her into a hug as well. He was relieved when she relaxed into the hug. He knew that she blamed herself for not standing up for him at the Rangers game, he wanted her to know that he would never put the blame on her like that. He hoped that message was conveyed at least on a primary level through the hug.

“Wow, that’s a nice jersey that you’ve got on there Finn. It’s got the fight strap and everything.” Erin said looking it over with a smirk on her face. Finn reached back and sure enough there was a fight strap on the back. He didn’t notice that before, but that meant that Sean didn’t give him just any jersey, but a jersey that he had actually worn in a game. There was something behind the intimacy in it that sent chills down his spine.

“Sean left it for me.” Finn explained, ducking his head and blushing slightly. When he looked back up both girls were looking at him like he was the most adorable person in the entire world.

“That’s so cute!” Ryanne squealed, back to her cheery bubbly self. Finn finally ushered the girls out of the apartment so that they could head off to the arena before the girls could start asking anymore questions. He wasn’t sure what Sean would be comfortable with him revealing about last night.

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Finn and the girls arrived at the Wells Fargo Center early enough to see the guys in the tunnel getting ready to skate around on the ice for warm ups. They had just made themselves comfortable standing down by the glass when the Washington Capitals players began to flood out onto the ice. Finn could feel the adrenaline pumping through his veins, a combination of excitement and nervousness. 

He couldn’t stop himself from thinking about all of the details of the events that occurred over the past two weeks. From Sean asking him to go to the Rangers game to stressing out over what that whole situation meant. Sean picking him up for the game and the look that lingered on Sean’s face after he had seen his name branded on Finn’s back. His excitement when Sean had scored that goal, and then the fans who had attacked him. Feeling like an outsider, Sean’s worried expression when he saw him in the lounge, and letting Sean comfort him. The fight, blaming Sean for something that was never his fault to begin with. The kiss. Sean running away from him and the shock over what had just happened. Curling up in a ball and hiding away from the world, then throwing himself into his work when he was forced to leave the house. When he forced himself to ignore all of Sean’s texts, and finally came to grips with moving on from Sean. The complete and utter surprise he felt when Sean had shown up in his classroom. Sean signing to him for the first time. Then kissing Sean again and Sean responding. Him finally having his way with Sean, finding the jersey left for him to wear tonight, and now being back here back in the Wells Fargo Center. Finn had never thought that he would ever step foot in this building again. But Sean had asked, and he would do anything for Sean. Tonight was going to be different. 

Finn let his attention drift back to the present when Erin tapped his shoulder. “Are you okay?” she asked concerned, Finn smiled and nodded. Erin still looked unsure but she settled for his answer. Finn focused on the ice in front of him. The orange home jerseys had begun to flood out onto the ice now and his eyes automatically looked for Sean again. When he managed to spot him, he couldn’t help but smile, Sean was trying to locate Finn in the sea of orange lining the glass. When their eyes met, he felt a shiver run down his spine as he sent a small wave back in return. Brayden checked Sean into the boards right in front of him, before turning and sending Finn a wave as well. Finn laughed but stopped when he noticed something on the top left of Brayden’s jersey as he skated away quickly. He looked toward the jumbotron and saw the image again as the camera zoomed in on Danny’s jersey and Finn could finally see what it meant. In colorful letters displayed proudly read the words “Playing for PSD” accompanied by the school’s logo. Finn’s jaw dropped. Finn looked around the ice from player to player, and sure enough they were all donning the same patch on their chests.

The rest of warm ups was pretty much a fuzzy blur for Finn seeing as he could hardly remember to breathe right now with all the emotions flying around inside of him. On more than one occasion he had to actually talk himself out of climbing over the glass and dropping down onto the ice and tackling Sean right then and there. When the guys made their way off the ice at the end of warmups, Finn and the girls headed up to their seats. Finn let his mind wander as he waited for the game to start, the girls happily chattering to one another from where they sat on either side of Finn.

His thoughts were pushed to the side when the arena went black and the orange lights swirled throughout the building. One by one, the Flyers players skated out onto the ice and formed a line across the ice. As the orange lights died down, a video started to play on the jumbotron’s screen. 

As the Flyers logo faded, it was replaced by the image of Claude, Matt, Brayden, and Sean appearing on the screen. Claude was the first to step forward on the screen and began talking, as sub titles appeared on the screen matching his words.

“A few months ago, the four of us were given an amazing opportunity,” Claude started, “we got the chance to go to the Pennsylvania School for the Deaf and spend the day with some truly amazing kids.” Finn’s jaw nearly dropped to the floor. He quickly attempted to gain his composure and closed his mouth while staring attentively at the words on the screen. “I know that I speak for the other guys as well when I say that it was something that I will never forget. I’ve been on school visits a few times as a Flyer, but nothing could have prepared me for how different this trip was.” Claude continued, the normally present breaks in speech for ‘um’ and ‘ugh’ noticeably absent. “I got to spend the day with a fifth grade class. The teacher’s name was Mrs. Stuart and she reminded me of a teacher that I had back in Hearst when I was about the same age as the kids in the class are. I spent the day getting to know all of the kids in the class, and thinking about just how wrong I was when I thought that not having your hearing made you so much different from other people. I have to say that I have never been happier to be wrong.” Claude walked out of the shot and Matt was the next player to walk forward and take his turn.

“I got put in a middle school level classroom. I thought that I’d be able to handle it pretty well. I thought that I was plenty smart enough to keep up with some sixth graders, I did go to college after all, but Ms. Kennedy whooped my butt.” Finn couldn’t help but laugh at Matt’s words, he knew Katelyn Kennedy very well, and Matt just managed to sum her up perfectly. “So basically I spent the day being schooled in various subjects by a bunch of twelve year olds. It was easily one of the best days of my life, and it put a lot of things into perspective for me. So thank you to Ms. Kennedy, her class, and PSD for teaching me that no obstacle ever means that it is time to give up.” Matt smiled and nodded before exiting off camera like Claude had earlier.

Brayden stepped forward next. Finn knew that Brayden’s time at PSD had both a lasting effect on him and the unsuspecting young female teacher that he had been placed with. He let a smile cross his lips as he waited for what Brayden was about to say.

“It’s no secret that I am not great at certain social situations. My shyness has made quite a few people critical at signings. I was a little concerned that I would come off as being stuck up during this visit as well, but when I walked into Ms. Abbott’s classroom any and all of my worries melted away. I love kids, so spending the day with a whole bunch of second graders was great.” Brayden punctuated this sentiment with one of his famous smirks before continuing, “Riley...Ms. Abbott, made me come in a just be myself. She expected me to drop the professional hockey player persona at the door, and had no qualms about making sure that I knew that that attitude was not acceptable, apparently Riley had heard about a specific person’s opinion of me from a signing, and she had already made her mind up about me.” Brayden laughed a little on screen at the memory and Finn couldn’t help but join along with him, Riley, a die hard Flyers fan, had all but shoved her laptop in his face on multiple occasions when she had found comments on Tumblr about Brayden being unprofessional to his fans, and that was before she had even met the man. “With Riley’s help, I was able to completely let go and enjoy my time with the kids. I was amazed at how open and happy and just normal the kids were. It was so humbling to see the kids living life to the absolute fullest, even without their hearing. It made me realize that I should be doing that more, and taking chances on things and people that I think are worth it. I owe a big thank you to Riley Abbott and her crazy class of munchkins!” Brayden smiled and walked off the screen leaving Sean all by himself, as the camera focused in on him, Finn took a deep breath and waited for the subtitles to appear on the screen. 

“I was going through a bit of a rough patch when I went to visit PSD, actually that isn’t accurate. I was a mess,” Finn gasped as he watched Sean sign and talk with no sign of the sub titles anywhere. “I didn’t know what to expect when I walked into that school. I didn’t even think that it would be a possibility that the visit to the school would be exactly what I needed to help me get back on track. I was placed in a kindergarten class, with a truly truly amazing teacher. Finn Greyson opened up his classroom for me to come into, and I am eternally grateful that he didn’t just kick me out when he saw what a mess I was. The kids got to me of course. It’s almost impossible to not have your heart stolen by twenty three five year olds.” Sean laughed a little as he said this and Finn smiled fondly hanging on to Sean’s every word, “I remember feeling like I was trapped under water that day. I just felt so guilty. Here I was wallowing in self pity over something so trivial, when these kids were laughing and playing and just living. Finn noticed my shellshocked state and insisted that I get everything off my chest. That wasn’t the last day that I spent at PSD. Over the past three months I have spent a great deal of time with these wonderful students and have realized just how normal and amazing they are. Finn Greyson is a truly amazing teacher. The way he acts around his students is unlike anything I have ever seen before. He hasn’t been given the easiest hand in life, but he never lets that get him down. He always remains so positive. It’s something that I have grown to admire very much.” Finn bit down on his lower lip when he noticed Sean’s demeanor change on the screen. “Two weeks ago, I decided to repay Finn for everything that he had done for me by inviting him to come to a game here. I figured that it would be only fair considering how many times I had intruded on his work place. I was so excited to share the experience with my new friend, so imagine my surprise when I went to meet him after the game and saw him upset. It turns out that some Flyers fans had mocked him because he is deaf. That they made fun of the fact that he uses his hands to speak. This was infuriating for me. Flyers fans, the greatest fans in the world, making fun of someone because they are deaf? How is that even acceptable to anyone? That night, I made a promise to myself that I would do everything in my power to make sure that everyone else thought it was unacceptable as well. Tonight, we as a team wear the colors and symbol of the Pennsylvania School for the Deaf and show our support for the deaf community. In this arena we stand for EQUALITY! ” Finn’s hand moved to his ribcage subconsciously, to where that very word stood out proudly against his skin. “Tonight we wear this message proudly on our jerseys, and we make a vow to fight for and ensure equality and promise this to all our fans. From now on, I will have a box for the students, families, and teachers from PSD to enjoy. So they can feel the magic of this sport as well.” He couldn’t believe that Sean did all of this, but he was not done. Sean was still sitting in front of the camera and moved to sign once more. 

This is for you, Finn, Sean signed without speaking and then moved to rest his hand over his heart. Finn could feel his own heart swell. Sean did all of this for him. This was the big surprise. All of this was to make Finn feel safe and cared for. He couldn’t believe it. But it was not over yet. 

Finn watched as the majority of the Flyers skated over to the bench to listen to the anthem, but instead of the starting lineup remaining on the ice, it was just Sean, Claude, Brayden, and Matt. They looked towards the tunnel where their locker room was and Finn followed their gaze. He covered his mouth with his hands when he saw students start filing out onto the ice. Ms. Kennedy’s sixth graders were first, all donning the bright white number twenty fours on their backs and Matt’s name. They made their way over to Matt and huddled around him. The fifth graders from Mrs. Stuart’s class were next. They all made their way over to the captain, all adorned with his name and number and stood patiently with him. Next up was the second graders, Riley accompanied her kids out onto the ice and as a group they carefully made their way over to a smiling Brayden. Riley matched his smile as he threw an arm over her shoulders and twenty kids all clad in the number ten surrounded them. It was only Sean left now, and Finn nearly keeled over when he saw his students make their way out onto the ice. Sean grabbed Chloe off the ice when she came running over to him and swung her up onto his hip, making her giggle. He squatted down with her still in his arms and received a massive group hug from all of Finn’s precious kindergartners who were all proudly wearing the number fourteen on their backs. 

Finn was most definitely not crying. He just had something stuck in his eye, and that was a certain hockey player that was currently showing him just how much he really did care in the most extravagant way possible. Sean managed to untangle himself from the kids and they all stood together. Finn looked up to the jumbotron to see the words, “Welcome the students, teachers, and families of PSD!” flashing across the screen in bright colors. He could see everyone around him clapping and cheering for the kids on the ice and he joined in. The whole arena rose to their feet and placed their hands over their hearts when Lauren Hart stepped out onto the ice. Finn watched as Riley left Brayden’s side and made her way over to stand next to Lauren. As Lauren began to sing, Riley began to sign the words along with her. Then something breathtaking happened on the ice. The students started signing along with Riley. Even his little kindergarteners tried their hardest to properly form the signs as they followed along. For once it did not matter that Finn couldn’t hear the music, he got the message, he felt it. Chills ran up and down his spine and he felt Erin wrap her arm around him to keep him grounded. The song ended and once again the crowd erupted into cheers. As the cheers continued, Luke and Sean skated around the ice, circling the kids with wide smiles on their faces as they moved their hands, forming the celebration sign.

Finn plopped back into his seat flabbergasted. No one had ever done anything like this for him before. Not that anyone could ever really match this because holy fuck, this was huge. This was massive. Finn had no idea how Sean managed to organize and plan all of this. He must have been working on it for the past two weeks. This time it was Ryanne who pulled him out of his thoughts when she let him know that the guys were about to face off.

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Finn let himself get lost in the game. It was something that he had become pretty accustomed to doing since he met Sean, and he took comfort in it. The Flyers seemed to have amped up their game tonight, their chances of making the playoffs were quickly dwindling and they seemed to be playing like they actually wanted to compete and reserve a spot. Despite their newfound energy, the bounces were just not going their way. Their pucks just couldn’t seem to find the back of the net.

With thirty seconds left in the first period their luck seemed to change. Luke sent the puck up the boards where it met Danny’s stick, Danny made his way up the ice and passed to Wayne who took a shot which bounced off of the Washington goalie’s pads, and Sean picked up the puck for the rebound and it snuck its way past the goalie. Everyone was on their feet now, cheering. Finn’s eyes found Sean on the ice, and he melted when Sean pointed right to him signaling that the goal was for him. He received a hug from each of the girls, who were once again cooing about how adorable Sean and Finn were.

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During the first intermission, Erin dragged Finn through the Wells Fargo Center claiming that he had to see something. Finn followed obediently and dragged Ryanne behind him. They made their way up a staircase in the lobby and were greeted by a man at the top who walked them over to a door. Finn wasn’t sure what he was supposed to expect to see behind the door, but he followed Erin in when she opened the door and went in. 

Finn was greeted by the sight of a whole bunch of kids from PSD in their Flyers jerseys running around and playing while their parents looked on happily. This was the box that Sean bought out for them. The girls moved off into the suite to play with the kids for a few minutes. Finn stood in the doorway slightly awkwardly while taking in the room in front of him. Riley was the first one to come up and greet him. She pulled him into a tight hug and then looked at him with a knowing look. Finn cut her off before she could even start interrogating him about Sean.

You were absolutely amazing out there! How did you even come up with the idea? Was it all Sean? And when the hell did you teach my kids the signs to that song? Finn asked still in disbelief.

Riley laughed a little before answering. That part with the song was actually all Brayden’s idea. He thought that it would be awesome if all the kids were to sign and if I were to lead them. Your kids learned the signs during their music class by the way, we’ve been working on this for the better part of the last two weeks. I think it turned out great. God, I can’t believe I just did that in front of a sold out crowd! It was now Finn’s turn to laugh at Riley’s antics.

It was outstanding, unbelievable, and fantastic all at the same time. And you did great. All of this is too much. Finn sighed, while signing. Riley took this as her opportunity to change the subject.

So when exactly were you planning on telling me that you were involved with a certain hockey player? She asked. Finn blanched a little bit.

There wasn’t anything to tell...until last night. Finn looked down and blushed as he said this. And I don’t even know where we stand. Riley huffed out a breath before shoving Finn slightly, hopefully none of the kids saw that small exchange and thought that they could repeat it themselves.

That guy, just did all of this for you Finn. Just to show you how much he cares about you and about the kids. To show you that he is serious about this. And you’re smiling again. God, you’ve been like a ghost for the past two weeks Finn. It’s like you weren’t really there unless you were around your students. He makes you happy, honey. Anyone can see that. And from what Brayden has told me, you make him really happy to. So maybe it’s time for Mr. Practical to take a leap of faith and let himself fall. Finn smiled and nodded at Riley. She returned it easily.

You’re absolutely right, Riles. I need to let go. Finn signed before a mischievous expression crossed his face and Riley’s smile automatically dropped, she knew what that look meant. So what about you and a certain hockey player. What’s his name again? Oh yeah, Brayden! Finn laughed a little at her expense when she blushed but still made her promise to give him all of the juicy details during their shared prep period the following week. 

The intermission wound down and Finn made his way back to his seat with Erin and Ryanne looping their arms with his. He just couldn’t wipe the goofy grin off his face. 

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The rest of the game was just as tense as the first period. There was a little bit of back and forth when the Capitals managed to tie is up halfway through the second period, but the Flyers used that to fuel their fire and actually uped their play. 

Brayden managed to draw a penalty on Ovechkin when he nearly knocked all of Brayden’s teeth out while high sticking him. Finn jumped up in concern as did many of the fans around him, and once he knew that Brayden was in fact okay, he couldn’t help but think about the complete mess that Riley probably was right now sitting up there in the suite.

Ovie made his way over to the box yelling at the refs the entire time, and Finn settled in to watch them on the power play. Lavi had been flipping his lines back and forth all night, and the power play was no different. He had Brayden centering the line still, with Sean and Matt as his wingers. Brayden won the face off and sent it over to Matty who made a pass to Sean when he was double teamed, and Sean took the puck and sent it right to Brayden where he was in front of the goal and Brayden slipped it behind Holtby. Finn was on his feet right away, jumping up and down. 

“That will show Ovechkin what happens when he pushes a Schenn around!” Finn punctuated the sentiment with a mini fist bump and the girls laughed at his antics and pulled him back into his seat.

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The rest of the game flew by. The score was four to three in the Flyers favor with two minutes left in the third period. The time ticked down slowly, and then the Capitals pulled Holtby off the ice in favor of another skater.

The Capitals managed to get the puck into the Flyers zone, but Sean managed to win a battle against the board and flung the puck to clear it. Finn watched with his jaw dropped as Sean’s clearing attempt made its way all the way down the ice past the defenders and slid slowly over the line into the goal.

The light behind the goal flashed. Sean had another goal on the night. Finn watched him celebrate with his team mates before they jumped right back into the game for the remaining thirty seconds. Finn let out a deep breath when the game was finally over. 

They managed to pull out a five-three victory over the Capitals, with Sean scoring two goals and getting the primary assist on Brayden’s goal. Finn knew that Sean was going to be super excited after the game and he couldn’t wait to see him, to congratulate him and thank him for everything that he did for him and the kids tonight.

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Finn all but sprinted down to the family lounge. The girls hurried behind him to make sure that they all stayed together and could get in there. Finn knew that there was no reason to hurry, Sean would still have to handle media and shower before he could leave, but Finn wanted to be there waiting for him when he came out. 

He let his leg bounce anxiously while he sat there. He fiddled with his phone for about ten minutes before players started making their way into the lounge. As soon as he saw Sean enter the room he couldn’t help himself, he ran and jumped on him. He wrapped his arms tightly around Sean and hugged him like he had never hugged anyone in his entire life. Finn pulled back to look at Sean.

“I can’t believe that you did all of this.” Finn muttered. stroking his thumb over Sean’s cheek bone. 

“You deserve this and so much more.” Sean replied tenderly, “I’m so sorry that I ever made you feel like I didn’t care and that I didn’t protect you when you needed me. I won’t ever let that happen again.” Finn pushed up on his toes and pressed his lips against Sean’s to shut him up. Sean’s arms wound around Finn as he returned the kiss. It was sweet and gentle and just perfect. Sean pulled away when he heard the cat calls from his team mates and blushed a little bit. Finn seemed to realize in that moment just where they were, and the fact that he just kissed Sean in front of all of his team mates. And oh God, did he just out Sean in front of all of them? Sean seemed to read Finn’s mind and sent him a reassuring smile before pulling him in for another kiss. Finn let himself melt into Sean’s arms. This time when they pulled apart and he looked around he sees people clapping, he was only momentarily confused because the guys start coming up to congratulate them. 

Luke was the first to make his way over, he clapped both of them gently on the shoulder, a bright white smile spread across his face. “Congratulations you two. I’m happy for you.” Finn pulled Luke into a hug when he finished signing. These guys were just way too good to him. He sent a quiet ‘thank you’ Luke’s way before latching back onto Sean’s side. Luke just nodded supportively before making room for the other guys to come over. Sean leaned down to capture his lips once more, just because he could. Sean pulled away laughing and Finn turned to see Brayden standing there making gagging motions and noises. Riley smacked his arm, and reaches forward to pull Finn in for another hug.

Get it! She signed and winked suggestively when she pulled away. Finn and Sean both couldn’t resist laughing at that, and the confused look that Brayden wore because of it.

“Do I want to know?” He asked the group, still confused.

“Absolutely not.” Finn replied with a smile. Brayden shook his head before hugging both Sean and Finn. Hockey really was a hug heavy sport on and apparently off the ice as well.

“That’s my best friend, Finn. You take care of him.” Brayden said with a serious look on his face that Finn had never seen on him. Finn just nodded, not exactly sure what he just agreed to. He really needed to talk to Sean about where they stood.

“I will. Don’t worry.” Finn replied, “And take care of that one,” he said pointing to Riley, “She’s one of my best friends too.” Brayden and Riley both blushed at the implication and quickly waved goodbye to the pair before running like a couple of bats out of hell away from them. Finn turned to Sean when he felt a tap on his shoulder.

Now that wasn’t very nice, Mr. Greyson. He signed, a smirk plastering it’s way across his face. Teasing those two like that. I didn’t know that Brayden could run that fast. 

“Hey, I think we need to talk about some things,” Finn started and Sean’s face fell, “I don’t mean anything bad,” this did little to ease Sean’s worries. “I just want to talk about what we are, okay?” Sean still looked unsure, Finn reached up and pecked Sean on the lips to try and give him some reassurance. Sean grabbed Finn and pulled him closer, unwilling to let him go. Finn let him take whatever comfort he needed to from the kiss. This time it was Finn who pulled away when he felt a shove to his shoulder, he turned his head only to be met by Claude Giroux.

“Jesus. Get a room!” Claude said before walking away to meet up with Ryanne across the room. Finn knew that it was meant to be light hearted, but he decided to take the advice anyway. 

He leaned up and whispered right in Sean’s ear, “Want to get out of here?” Sean was still a little bit concerned but he couldn’t pass up the offer to get away from his team mates and just be with Finn. So he nodded, before grabbing Finn’s hand in his own, and they made their way out of the lounge receiving even more cat calls from the people still left in the room as they went.

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They didn’t get very far. Finn pulled Sean down a deserted hallway and pushed him up against the wall. Sean gasped and placed his hands on Finn’s shoulders to brace himself. 

“You...uh...um...you wanted to talk?” Sean managed to gasp out, completely forgetting to sign. He didn’t want to play around with Finn, just for him to turn him down. Finn released his hold on Sean a little bit and nodded.

“What you did tonight...it meant so much to me. I can’t even tell you.” Finn paused to collect himself. “I guess what I need to know now is if you meant what you said at the end of your video. That you did this, all of this, for me.” Finn looked to Sean waiting for his answer.

I meant every single word. I wanted you to know how much I cared about you, and how serious I am about this, whatever it is. Sean looked down a little sheepishly before meeting Finn’s gaze, and taking a huge leap of faith. I love you, Finn. 

Finn gasped, when he saw Sean point to himself then cross his arms and then point back to him. He never thought in a million years that Sean would ever say that to him. Once again, Finn thought back over the past two weeks, and the hell that his life was until Sean came back to him. It may have escalated very quickly, but if Finn was being completely honest with himself, he couldn’t deny his feelings for the younger man who plowed into his life and managed to give him everything that he never knew he wanted. He focused back in on the situation at hand when he realized that Sean was shifting nervously in front of him.

“You don’t have to say anything back. I know it’s really early. And it’s probably crazy, but...” Sean’s rambling was cut off by Finn’s lips on his own. They only pulled back when they had to breathe. Finn took this opportunity to answer Sean.

“I love you too, Sean. So very much. You have no idea.” Sean froze, before a look of recognition passed over his face. He reached down to kiss Finn again, overwhelmed with emotions at this new development, but this time he wouldn’t let his emotions make him run away. He knew what he was feeling and he wanted it to last forever. He loved Finn like he had never loved anything or anyone else before in his life, except maybe hockey, but that was a different kind of love. 

Sean pulled away with a mischievous look on his face, and then he was pulling on Finn’s arm tugging him throughout the Wells Fargo Center and out into the players parking lot and the cold Philadelphia night air. They made their way over to Sean’s old dilapidated jeep. Sean opened the passenger door for Finn and was rewarded with a sweet kiss on his cheek. He quickly made his way over to the driver’s side and slipped into the car, shooting Finn a sidelong glance when he did. Finn met his gaze with a big genuine smile, that left Sean breathless.

“We should probably get out of here now, so that I can show you just how much I love you.” Finn said cheekily and polished off the sentiment with a wink. This left Sean scrambling to get the key into the ignition and the car pulled out of it’s spot, eager for the night that awaited them.


End file.
